Cemetery Representative

Additional Requirements

1. To be considered, please attach your resume.
2. The position is eligible for Veterans’ Preference per ARSD 55:10:02:08.
3. Successful applicant(s) will be required to undergo a background investigation.
4. An arrest/conviction record will not necessarily bar employment.
5. To be considered, please submit a National Career Readiness Certificate with your application.
6. All persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and complete an Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9.
7. The State of South Dakota offers $0 premium employee health insurance option plus eleven paid holidays, generous vacation and sick leave accrual, dental, vision, and other insurance options, and retirement benefits.
8. This position is a member of Class A retirement under SDRS.

Responsibilities

• Provides specialized and general clerical and technical support to the cemetery director, including administrative, logistical, and analytical activities related to the internment of qualified veterans and their eligible dependents at a State Veterans Cemetery.
• Conduct committal services for veterans and their eligible dependents.
• Work on the frontlines ensuring that Veterans and their eligible family members are respectfully memorialized and honored in their final resting place.
• Perform extensive public contact by telephone and in person, often requiring the ability to deal with a decedent's immediate family in times of emotional crisis.
• Assist with the moving of caskets placed on wheeled biers in and out of a committal shelter and caskets from vehicle to burial area.
• Conduct grounds maintenance, burial operations, and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills, both verbally and written.
• Great attention to detail and the ability to provide excellent customer service to all.
• Knowledge of Veterans Affairs and State veteran benefits.
• Skills to read and understand VA, State, and Federal laws and regulations; understand the SD Veterans Cemetery program in assisting veterans and their families, funeral directors, and all other clientele; verify eligibility for burial, schedule burials, and process monument orders.
• Ability to communicate cemetery information to Veterans, their families, funeral directors, and visitors; learn interment application procedures and National Cemetery Administration eligibility criteria (e.g., establish and schedule interment applications).
• Maintain burial records and applications (e.g., paper and electronic); operate computer applications unique to the cemetery (e.g., Burial Operational Support System [BOSS]); conduct committal services (e.g., chaplain services and military funeral honors).
• Represent the mission of the SDDVA; gain knowledge of Federal, state, local, NCA, and military policies and procedures for cemetery operations; follow state of SD/SDDVA policies for confidentiality and disclosure of information (e.g., Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act [FOIA]); establish and/or maintain complex records, use coding and filing systems, and retrieve and compile data.
• Follow cemetery specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and daily operations.