Legal Administrative Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/09/2026. 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. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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-07 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-09. 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. Specialized experience for this grade is defined as having performed duties such as: (1) Processing claims or benefits applications using established processes with direct supervision, ensuring all required documentation is complete and accurate. (2) Responding to routine customer inquiries about VA benefits programs, providing information in a clear and courteous manner, often referring to complex issues to senior staff. (3) Gathering and verifying basic data relevant to benefits eligibility and entering information into automated systems. (4) Conducting basic research in established policies, procedures, or guidelines to assist in eligibility determinations under supervision. This experience should be directly related to federal, military, or private sector settings. OR Education Substitution: You may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have: One (1) full your of graduate level education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position; OR A Bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (3.0 GPA or higher). Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) is based on: 1) class standing, 2) grade point average or 3) honor society membership. For more information on calculating SAA please visit www.opm.gov. (You must provide transcripts); GS-09 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this grade is defined as having performed duties such as: (1) Independently processing and adjudicating claims or benefits applications, ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and resolving non-routine discrepancies. (2) Providing in-depth customer service and benefits counseling to Veterans and beneficiaries, including explaining complex benefit entitlements and program eligibility requirements. (3) Conducting thorough research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine eligibility and resolve complex claims issues. (4) Preparing comprehensive reports and correspondence, summarizing findings, and making recommendations or determinations regarding benefits. This experience must be directly related to federal, military, or private sector work. OR Education Substitution: You may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have: A Master's or equivalent graduate degree, 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LLB. or J.D., related fields of study. (You must provide transcripts); or a combination of the required experience and education for this grade 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: No special physical demands are necessary. The work is mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, claims folders, ad files from one desk to another or for returning to storage. Carts are utilized to carry large number of claims folders. This will require the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another. 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/.