Summary The Lead Veterans Claims Examiner is aligned under the following: Department of Veterans Affairs ,VBA, CS, Policy staff, Regulations team. The Policy Staff is responsible for proposing legislation, writing and publishing administrative law, creating procedural guidance, and providing policy recommendations to senior leadership. The Regulations team is responsible for researching, writing, and processing regulatory amendments for the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), specifically, 38 CFR Part 3. Responsibilities Specific duties include: Applies Veterans' benefits laws and regulations that pertain to CS benefit programs. Studies program operations, new legislation, automated systems, management initiatives, and the operation of interacting programs and organizations to assist in the development of new and modified policies. Makes policy that results in decisions that affect disability claims processing for employees in all 56 Regional Offices and three Decision Review Operations Centers in determining service connection in Veterans' claims. Reports directly to the Chief, Part 3 Regulations, Policy team, Compensation Service (CS) and may represent the Chief at meetings and conferences. Researches and analyzes legislation, legislative history, regulations, regulation history, policy, case law, scientific studies, and claims data in order to formulate policy decisions affecting disability claims processing. Serves as a regulations policy expert collaborating with data, media and financial stakeholders to assist them in providing accurate and complete information supporting regulations. Writes accurate, clear, and comprehensible documents and emails. Writes regulations, regulatory support documents, white papers (options papers, position papers, etc.), and responds, in writing, to internal and external stakeholder inquiries in a comprehensive, accurate, clear, and comprehensible manner, while adhering to accepted standards of formatting and style, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Prepares all necessary administrative materials, correspondences, and justifications detailing reasons for decisions. Orally communicates in a clear and comprehensive manner at all levels to seek and/or present information, solve problems, identify issues/risks, clarify existing adjudication regulations, and/or recommend policy direction. Demonstrates mastery of the claims process, procedures, functions, responsibilities, and authorities that interact in the administration and implementation of the CS benefits program. Participates in special projects devoted to supporting policy analysis and updates. Applies Veterans' benefits laws and regulations that pertain to CS benefit programs. Studies program operations, new legislation, automated systems, management initiatives, and the operation of interacting programs and organizations to assist in the development of new and modified policies. Makes policy that results in decisions that affect disability claims processing for employees in all 56 Regional Offices and three Decision Review Operations Centers in determining service connection in Veterans' claims. Reports directly to the Chief, Part 3 Regulations, Policy team, Compensation Service (CS) and may represent the Chief at meetings and conferences. Researches and analyzes legislation, legislative history, regulations, regulation history, policy, case law, scientific studies, and claims data in order to formulate policy decisions affecting disability claims processing. Serves as a regulations policy expert collaborating with data, media and financial stakeholders to assist them in providing accurate and complete information supporting regulations. Writes accurate, clear, and comprehensible documents and emails. Writes regulations, regulatory support documents, white papers (options papers, position papers, etc.), and responds, in writing, to internal and external stakeholder inquiries in a comprehensive, accurate, clear, and comprehensible manner, while adhering to accepted standards of formatting and style, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Prepares all necessary administrative materials, correspondences, and justifications detailing reasons for decisions. Orally communicates in a clear and comprehensive manner at all levels to seek and/or present information, solve problems, identify issues/risks, clarify existing adjudication regulations, and/or recommend policy direction. Demonstrates mastery of the claims process, procedures, functions, responsibilities, and authorities that interact in the administration and implementation of the CS benefits program. Participates in special projects devoted to supporting policy analysis and updates. Promotion Potential: This position does not have promotion potential. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Telework Eligible Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Employee is expected to report to the nearest VBA facility based on the agreed upon telework agreement. Position Description/PD#: Lead Veterans Claims Examiner; 399480 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Requirements Conditions of Employment Upon completion of your probationary period OR 2-year trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. 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 period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process 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. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 04/22/2026. 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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level. 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-14 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade of GS-13 level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. The applicant must document knowledge and/or experience writing and publishing federal regulations; knowledge and/or experience researching federal statutes, regulations, court decisions, policies and procedures pertaining to the adjudication of Veterans' claims for Compensation or related benefits; knowledge and/or experience adjudicating Veterans' claims for disability compensation or related benefits; knowledge and/or experience with VA Compensation Service policymaking; ability to train and review work of others while maintaining effective work relationships; possess expert oral and written communication skills. 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 is primarily sedentary but involves use of a personal computer so a degree of manual dexterity and visual acuity sufficient to use these tools is required. Occasional standing, bending, walking, and stooping are also necessary. Some slight physical effort is required in that incumbent lifts and carries reference books, files, and similar items. No special physical demands are required. 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/. Education There is no education substitution for GS-14. Additional Information 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), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information. The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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 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 http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transitio.... 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. 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. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. https://department.va.gov/employees/va-mission-act-section-505-data/
