Personnel Security Assistant

Summary

The incumbent of this position serves as a Personnel Security Assistant in the PSU, and the position is to perform security-related functions in support of a Network Personnel Suitability and Credentialing Program (hereinafter, "Personnel Security Program") within a shared services unit.

Duties

• Major duties and responsibilities include: Personnel Security, e-QIP, PIV, Use of Automated Integrated Systems The Personnel Security Assistant performs work related to the collection, organization and/or tracking of information in support of the Personnel Security Program. The Personnel Security Program includes the processes of initiating, reviewing, and approving background cases for release to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in compliance with policies relating to completion of suitability investigations for Federal employees and others requiring background investigations for non-sensitive and public trust positions. The work of this position centers on assisting the Personnel Security Specialist in collecting appropriate background information, tracking and reviewing data, completion of reports, maintaining databases and processing follow-up actions on various security related matters and assisting with suitability adjudications Works with applicants who may be experiencing difficulties with completion of electronic forms related to the background screening process. Enters appropriate data in required databases related to an appointee's suitability from a wide variety of sources. Local Consultation, Performs Audits, Maintains Privacy of Information, Reviews technical regulations, policy, guidance: In conjunction with the Personnel Security Specialist and/or lead/supervisor, presents training/briefings for supervisors, managers, and employees related to various aspects of the Personnel Security Program. Requests information from various law enforcement agencies and courts. Assures that the approving official is kept informed of these actions. Periodically performs audits of official personnel folders to assure that information related to suitability is properly recorded and filed. Reviews applicant's data ensuring that they submitted information matches the demographic data and that all required information has been provided. Reviews applicant's data ensuring that they submitted information matches the demographic data and that all required information has been provided. 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. Work Schedule: Full Time - business hours 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Personnel Security Assistant/99952-S

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/21/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Security Assistant, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: Knowledge of regulations, policies, procedures, principles and concepts that govern the Personal Identity Verification Program Must be skilled in dealing with highly charged emotional situations and have the ability to work calmly and effectively in sensitive, stress producing situations Must have the ability to enter, extract, and evaluate employee information via access to various computer databases -OR- EDUCATION: Have successfully completed (4) years of education above the high school level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial or technical NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -OR- COMBINATION: Possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e. beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, small boxes, or books. 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

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will 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 period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

How to apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/21/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13060928. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. 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/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.