Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Description:

The Primary Purpose of the Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist is to provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation counseling an case management services to disabled Veterans enrolled in Mental Health. Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist assesses data received from medical and psychological reports develop rehabilitation plans and as appropriate provide rehabilitation services.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/27/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the 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. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived.

• Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position.
• Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: 1.) Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program. 2.) Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled , including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged , including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention. 3.) Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems.

In addition to the individual occupation requirements listed above, you must also have:

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 1.) Conducted independent vocational assessments and developed individualized vocational rehabilitation plans for Veterans with mental illness, substance use disorders, physical disabilities, and homelessness. 2.) Provided community-based vocational rehabilitation services, including job development, job search assistance, and employment support for Veterans on an active caseload. 3.) Collaborated with interdisciplinary mental health teams to monitor treatment adherence, evaluate vocational progress, and recommend appropriate vocational interventions. 4.) Completed vocational consults, referrals, and documentation within required timeframes while ensuring compliance with national vocational rehabilitation policies and directives. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond as described above.

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/ .

Physical Requirements:
- Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds
- Use of fingers.
- Walking - Standing
- Kneeling
- Repeated bending
- Operation of crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle
- Eligible for government driver's license