What are the responsibilities and job description for the Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist position at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
Summary
The incumbent in this position serves as Coatesville VAMC's Community Employment Coordinator (CEC) for Homeless Veterans. The employee is a central figure (liaison - advocate - technical advisor) responsible for the ongoing orientation and training of the Homeless Services continuum in order to connect Veterans to the most appropriate and least restrictive VA and/or community-based employment services.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 12/08/2025. 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-9. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience that provided a knowledge of training practices - techniques - and requirements as they relate to vocational development or rehabilitation. To be creditable - experience must have been at the GS-09 grade level in Federal service. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: 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; 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; or 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. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. - equivalent doctoral degree - 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree - or an LL.M. with a major study in vocational rehabilitation - vocational or educational counseling - or other fields related to the position. Transcripts required. OR - Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have An equivalent combination of specialized experience and higher-level graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Transcripts required - and experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. 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/.
Duties
The incumbent in this position serves as Coatesville VAMC's Community Employment Coordinator (CEC) for Homeless Veterans. The employee is a central figure (liaison - advocate - technical advisor) responsible for the ongoing orientation and training of the Homeless Services continuum in order to connect Veterans to the most appropriate and least restrictive VA and/or community-based employment services.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 12/08/2025. 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-9. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience that provided a knowledge of training practices - techniques - and requirements as they relate to vocational development or rehabilitation. To be creditable - experience must have been at the GS-09 grade level in Federal service. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: 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; 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; or 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. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. - equivalent doctoral degree - 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree - or an LL.M. with a major study in vocational rehabilitation - vocational or educational counseling - or other fields related to the position. Transcripts required. OR - Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have An equivalent combination of specialized experience and higher-level graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Transcripts required - and experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. 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/.
Duties
- The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist possesses intensive knowledge of mental and physical disabilities or other handicaps - in terms of the practical effects of such handicaps on work tolerances - motivations - adjustment to training - and difficulty in employment placement
- The focus of services will be to promote optimal occupational functioning of Veterans within the community
- Major duties and responsibilities will include: Serves as a liaison to local community providers of employment placement and support services for homeless Veterans
- Leads efforts to establish a local employment collaborative which includes VA and non-VA members and community-based employers - and documents access points - requirements for participation and points of contact as indicated
- Coordinates with homeless - CWT and community program managers on rapid access and placement strategies for Veterans that reduce barriers to employment and identify appropriate supports to sustain outcomes
- Evaluates the employment needs of individual Veterans and provides individual and customized job development and placement
- Provides information - pre-employment assessment and workforce re-entry planning services - linkage - and coordination for VA and non-VA services - and community-based follow-up services to integrate Veterans into the community through competitive employment
- Establishes respectful - effective relationships with Veterans and with the clinical and administrative staff from a range of institutions and agencies - including community employers
- Develops employment opportunities for homeless Veterans both directly through community-based job development and indirectly by leveraging the expertise of the employment collaborative
- Insures that - through the collaborative - competitive employment resources of varying levels of intensity are currently available for homeless and chronically homeless Veterans both at the medical center and in the community
- Monitors performance and progress through review (at least quarterly) of cases referred to the members of the collaborative to ensure that Veterans are receiving services leading to competitive employment and appropriate follow-up supports
- Develops and maintains a database on referral and placement outcomes and provide feedback to the collaborative members as well as national homeless leadership
- Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm
- Work schedule may change depending on needs of the facility
- Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD061550 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
- Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
Salary : $81,474 - $105,911