Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation).

Responsibilities

• Coordinates counseling sessions with Veterans, their dependents, and beneficiaries in person, by telephone, or through correspondence regarding all VA benefits and non-VA benefits available through other agencies.
• Explains VBA rating decisions in detail, using extensive knowledge of VA benefits, claim and appeal processing procedures, and benefit determination information.
• Assists with programs including, but not limited to, compensation and pension benefits, home loan eligibility, education, health care, life insurance, burial benefits, vocational rehabilitation services, Social Security Administration benefit programs, and other federal, state, and local assistance programs.
• Prepares technical correspondence to Veterans and dependents providing benefit information, representation rights, and responses to inquiries.
• Explains pertinent legal provisions, regulations, and related administrative practices and their application to specific cases.
• Initiates inquiries to resolve errors, delays, or other problems in obtaining benefits.
• Completes claim and appeal-related work.

Requirements

As a condition of employment:

• You must be a U.S. Citizen.
• 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 forms of identification will be required for pre-employment.
• Effective May 7, 2025, non-REAL ID compliant driver's licenses or state-issued IDs cannot be used for employment identification.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 08/17/2026.

Time-in-Grade Requirement

• For a GS-07 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
• For a GS-09 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to a lower grade, you must currently hold the GS-9 (or higher) grade.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

GS-07 Grade Level

Specialized Experience: Defined as:

• Ability to work with direct supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing.
• Knowledge of researching relevant subject matter.
• Experience significantly and directly derived from federal, military, or the private sector, such as orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs or performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

Education Substitution: 1 full year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement.

GS-09 Grade Level

Specialized Experience: Defined as:

• Ability to work with minimum supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing.
• Moderate knowledge of researching relevant subject matter.
• Experience significantly and directly derived from federal, military, or the private sector, such as orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs or performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

Education Substitution: Master's or equivalent graduate degree, 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.B. or J.D., if related.

Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level, the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement.

Volunteer Experience: Includes paid and unpaid experience, such as volunteer work through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social).

Schedule

• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
• Compressed/Flexible: Available
• Telework: Eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. Requires reporting to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized.
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Physical Requirements

The work is mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, claims folders, and files. Carts are utilized to carry large numbers of claims folders, requiring the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another.

Benefits

As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits designed to make your federal career rewarding. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time, or intermittent.