Summary This position is in the Office of the Secretary, Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and serves as an Executive Writer. This role includes several functional areas of responsibility including project management, and quality control.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This job is open to - Federal employees - Competitive service
Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales. - Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants. - Land and base management
Current or former employees of a base management agency. - Veterans
Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference - Military spouses
Military spouses relocating under PCS orders or whose spouse is 100% disabled or died while on active duty. - Individuals with disabilities
Individuals who are eligible under Schedule A.
Clarification from the agency This announcement is open to those eligible for the following hiring authorities: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) Federal employees - Competitive service, Individuals with disabilities, Land & base management, Military spouses, and Veterans.
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.
Duties - Analyzes incoming executive correspondence and researches issues to prepare responses to Secretary's correspondence.
- Works independently with appropriate personnel of other VA organizations to obtain required data.
- Build and maintains working relationships with high-level officials, policy experts, correspondence representatives and subject matter experts in VA Central Office.
- Researches critical issues teaming with Subject matter experts to gather information and other resources.
- Determines appropriate responses and prepares responses based on understanding of the subject matter.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Work Schedule: Fulltime
Compressed/Flexible: Available at the Supervisor's discretion
Telework: Available according VA policy
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: 31894A / 33806A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Requirements Conditions of Employment - 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
- Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (
- Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification 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, 07/21/2025.
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 GS14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS13. For a GS13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS12. 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.
See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
- GS13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS12 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) Prepares congressional responses for cabinet level officials; 2) Collaborates with correspondence analysts to ensure documents are in compliance with policy standards and/or deadlines are met; and 3) Uses VIEWS or a similar electronic records management system to track documents for signature/approval.
- GS14 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS13 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) Prepares congressional responses for cabinet level officials; 2) Collaborates with correspondence analysts to ensure documents are in compliance with policy standards and/or deadlines are met; 3) Uses VIEWS or a similar electronic records management system to track documents for signature/approval. 4) Delivers briefs and/or interacts with senior-level officials on confidential and sensitive matters in nature; and 5) Conducts substantive review of outgoing correspondence for senior executives.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
- Administration and Management
- Analytical Thinking
- Information Assurance
- Oral Communication
- Organizational Awareness
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.
Note : A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily Sedentary. Some travel may be necessary
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
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.
VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR (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 current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well-qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:
Serves or served in an Executive Secretariat or similar function with direct experience with: Congressional responses, editing a high-volume of complex documents, and briefing/interacting with senior-level officials daily. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at 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,
