Program Specialist (HR Liaison)

Summary

The Program Specialist (HR Liaison) is assigned to the Chicago VA Regional Benefit Office, Office of the Director and reports to the Assistant Director, who serves as the immediate supervisor. The person in this position is responsible for providing performance management and technical support for the regional office Human Resources program. They are the key advisor to the Director and the Division Chiefs on all human resources issues and coordinates directly with the HR Center.

Duties

• Duties include, but are not limited to: Provides management advisory services in counseling, advising management on developing and maintaining the proper balance between organization strategic plans and goals and human resource development programs; conducting systemic studies to develop management interests. Collaborates with the staff/managers to develop and implement policies, procedures, and guidelines which institute processes for work to run as effectively and efficiently as possible. Tracks any lag time with recruitment or classification actions. Provides solutions to management on how to improve processing times for recruitment actions; uses organizational studies to help management strategize on how to keep staff engaged and challenged with their current work; and how to use resources wisely to get the highest sustainable grade for all positions. Briefs Executive Leadership on hiring and classification actions during weekly meeting staff meetings. Also provides briefings on attrition and turnover rates are at current levels, reason for loss, and avenue for recruitment to increase or improve work issues. Provides technical advice and assistance and disseminates human resource information to organization. Review's classification standards, guides, to assist and coordinate classification assignments. Assist with the initial classification of individual position for submittal to the CCU. Aids supervisors and operating officials on the classification submissions and processes Assists in the development of initiatives to improve management processes and systems using the most efficient utilization of human resources. Studies and advises managers and supervisors on staffing requirements, resources, and problems in assigned offices involving a high degree of complexity. Provides advice and assistance in the areas of discipline, adverse actions, grievances, performance management and recognition, employee counseling, and related functions. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-9/11/12. Work Schedule: Full Time, M-F 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: No Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description Title/PD#: Program Specialist (HR Liaison); PD39563A, PD39564A, and PD39565A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Bargaining Unit: No

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 09/08/2026. Time-In-Grade: Applicants who are current federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at or above the GS-7 grade level. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at or above the GS-9 grade level. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at or above the GS-11 grade level. To support your claim of time in grade, you must submit your most recent appointment, promotion, or within grade increase SF-50 (not an award or general adjustment SF-50). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 to demonstrate their eligibility. See the required documents section for more information. GRADE REQUIREMENT: To receive CTAP selection priority, your grade level upon Reduction in Force must be at least 9/11/12. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Minimum Qualifications: You must also qualify based on your experience and as described below: To qualify at the GS-9 grade level: Specialized experience: To qualify, applicants must have one (1) year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience applying and providing guidance on multiple fields of Human Resources rules, regulations, and procedures including Personnel Management, Recruitment and Staffing, Classification, Employee Benefits (OWCP, retirements, and insurance programs), and/or Labor Relations. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assist employees with advice on a variety of rules, regulations, and practices pertaining to human resources Provide guidance and explanations of the organization's policies, procedures, and guidelines to leaders and employees Provide advice regarding appropriate levels on personnel actions. Education: A master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as an LL.B. or J.D., if related) from an accredited college or university, or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, may be substituted for experience at the GS-09 level. This graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform he duties of the position. Note: A transcript must be submitted with the application if all or part of the qualifications is based on education. To qualify at the GS-11 grade level: Specialized experience: To qualify, applicants must have one (1) year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience applying and providing guidance on multiple fields of Human Resources rules, regulations, and procedures including Personnel Management, Recruitment and Staffing, Classification, Employee Benefits (OWCP, retirements, and insurance programs), and/or Labor Relations. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Provide advisory services to leaders and employees on a range of human resources concepts, laws, and policies; Assist leadership in solving a range of complex problems and issues; Participate in policy development groups or projects based on broad organizational requirements. Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (such as an LL.M., if related) from an accredited college or university, or completion of three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, may be substituted for the required experience. The graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. Note: A transcript must be submitted with the application if all or part of the qualification is based on education. To qualify at the GS-12 grade level: Specialized Experience: To qualify, applicants must have one (1) year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience providing advisory services, quality review services, or experience drafting and approving standard operating procedures and/or other forms of regulatory guidance covering multiple fields of Human Resources rules, regulations, and procedures including Personnel Management, Recruitment and Staffing, Classification, Employee Benefits (OWCP, retirements, and insurance programs), and/or Employee and Labor Relations. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Provide advice and guidance in the areas of classification and staffing and recruitment; Defending agency actions in front of a 3rd party hearing (FLRA, MSPB); Experience as the chief negotiator in labor negotiations. Note: There is no educational substitution for the GS-12 level. Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information. Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require walking in offices and similar areas for meetings and to conduct HR work. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the worksite. The work does not require any special physical effort. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Requirements

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows: You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents. Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Incumbent must be willing to report to the duty station indicated for this position

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit. Note: You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/08/2026 to receive consideration. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13055402. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merithiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/