Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Summary

The Assistant Veteran Readiness and Employment Officer (AVREO) will supervise VR&E staff at out based locations and/or within the Honolulu Regional Office. The AVREO is responsible for administration and workload management in the Honolulu RO, reporting any issues to the Veteran Readiness Employment Officer (VREO) with suggested corrections needed, to assure that all performance goals in the areas of timeliness, accuracy, cost, customer satisfaction, and employee development are achieved.

Duties

• Duties are divided between counseling duties and case management which include the following, but are not limited to: Answers technical questions for counselors and support staff in the VR&E Office. Manages broad-based and multi-faceted programs through a team of supervisors and team leaders. Typically, the VR&E division is comprised of professional, administrative, technical, and clerical staff members ranging in grades up to and including the GS-13. Directs and supervises the administration of work involving eligibility criteria, vocational exploration, conducting assessments of both the local labor market, plan development based on appropriate vocational goals, examination of medical information, making legally binding entitlement decisions, award adjustments, award authorization, and case management services; Maintains essential resources for referral for special rehabilitation procedures. Frequent collaboration and referrals are maintained with employers, school officials, medical and rehabilitation officials, contractors, state employment service personnel, and other community resources. Ensures staff responds timely to Congressional, White House and other special inquiries concerning VA benefits for Veterans and other claimants. Provides advice and recommendations to meet major goals and assists with the assessment of priorities. Makes decisions related to assigning and allocating program resources and directing and reviewing personnel within the assigned staff complement to accomplish the changing initiatives and emphasis established by Central Office program managers. Must be responsive to dynamic nature of Veteran and beneficiary populations and needs within the jurisdictional area. Assists with the development and implementation of plans to meet objectives; monitors progress toward the accomplishment of approved goals and takes steps to overcome any obstacles. Provides administrative expertise in all phases of rehabilitation activities, including counseling, case management, rehabilitation plan development, and job development and placement. Coordinates and integrates these operations and policies with other divisions, agencies, employers, and rehabilitation facilities. Plans, formulates, and implements operational procedures and policies to maintain efficient operating performance of professional and support staff. Assumes final responsibility for proper interpretation and uniform application of laws, regulations, and instructions in conformance with mandatory policies, procedures and practices, reconciling divergent opinions. The AVREO may review personally the most difficult and complex cases and elements such as fraud, high cost programs, independent living cases to include home adaptation, category one and two self-employment cases, re-entrance into a rehabilitation program cases, retroactive induction cases, and extension of entitlement cases. Approves cases involving Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE), to include cases in which large sums of money may be involved. In addition, the AVREO oversees employees who do supplemental claim reviews and higher-level reviews, procure counseling services, and conduct informal hearings. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday 7:30am-4:00pm Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available 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#: Vocational Rehab Counselor; PD# 002760 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: 09/25/2026 1. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-12 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least a GS-13. 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. 2. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: To be eligible for this position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements: Degree: behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. OR Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. Reference: Additional information on the qualification requirements for this position can be located on the OCHCO VA Qualifications Standards website found here. 3. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the time-in-grade and IOR requirements, you must also have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12. Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is defined as Documented experience that has provided an advanced and detailed knowledge of Vocational Rehabilitation programs. Specifically, an in-depth knowledge of testing and evaluation, rehabilitation, job development and job placement, and demonstrated comprehensive experience in ALL of the following: Conducting assessments of both the local labor market, and employability; Active involvement in the development of appropriate vocational goals and subsequent objectives outlined in rehabilitation plans Providing case management services to customers while pursuing their rehabilitation plans (e.g., personal contact regarding achievement of vocational goals, referral for medical or ancillary services, and responding efficiently to rehabilitation concerns); an Written and oral communication skills in explaining the benefits and services available through the rehabilitation program. Candidates must also have demonstrated in their work experience or training that they possess, or have the potential to develop, the qualities to successfully supervise subordinates/teams and to share responsibility for directing and supervising the administrative work necessary to manage a successful program operation. 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; religious; 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. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The position is primarily in an office setting. Some travel may be necessary on occasion for training, meetings, or customer interactions. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Requirements

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. You may be required to serve a supervisory probationary period. 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 Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position. 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

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 p.m. (EST) on 09/25/2026 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 about two (2) 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 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: USA Jobs Help Center - Resume Page Limit Applicant Guidance on the Two-Page Resume Limit