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Program Support Assistant (OA).

Veterans Benefits Administration
Columbia, SC Full Time
POSTED ON 9/9/2026 CLOSED ON 9/19/2026

What are the responsibilities and job description for the Program Support Assistant (OA). position at Veterans Benefits Administration?

Duties

Specific Duties Include

  • Controls and prepares recurring and special reports, studies, and analyses as may be required by the VSCM or station management.
  • Responds to a variety of personal, telephone, and written inquiries, including those regarding general procedures and policies of the Department, as well as the benefits administered.
  • Prepares forms, documents, training requests and other various administrative related documents that are needed to meet reporting requirements or to support claims or applications for benefits.
  • Maintains records of correspondence sent through VSC's corporate email box.
  • Provides tracking and reporting to VSCM of employee FMLA usage, LWOP, Compensatory Time, and yearly Use-or-Lose.
  • Responsible for reviewing internal correspondence for accuracy and completeness.
  • Maintains a personnel listing of all VSC employees, to include emergency contact information, current position, grade and step, and time in position; and ensures the VSC staffing report is maintained. Maintains the office filing system and the locked file documents that contain confidential personnel information.

Promotion Potential: Position is at full promotion potential.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Compressed/Flexible: Available

Telework: No

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (OA); PD04052A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized .

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

Required

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness & 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.

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
  • 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
  • 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/11/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
  • If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 06 or higher and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-06 Grade Level

  • Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least to the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience providing clerical and administrative support to an office, to include typing a variety of correspondence, greeting customers, and maintaining office files OR experience researching and reviewing available records/documents and piecing together pertinent information from a variety of sources.

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: Work requires some physical exertion such as extended periods of standing frequent bending, reaching or similar activities necessary to set up, operate, adjust and monitor operation of the equipment. The employee lifts a variety of moderately heavy materials and supplies such as mailbags or large quantities of paper stock.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

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 your current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP),

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review:

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Salary.com Estimation for Program Support Assistant (OA). in Columbia, SC
$47,839 to $61,769
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