Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.

About the role

This position involves a combination of counseling duties and case management, overseeing broad-based and multi-faceted vocational rehabilitation programs.

Responsibilities

• Direct and supervise the administration of work involving eligibility criteria, vocational exploration, labor market assessments, plan development, medical information examination, legally binding entitlement decisions, award adjustments, authorization, and case management services.
• Maintain essential resources for referral for special rehabilitation procedures, collaborating frequently with employers, school officials, medical and rehabilitation professionals, contractors, state employment service personnel, and other community resources.
• Provide internal policy direction and supervision to the Regional Office Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (RO VR&E) staff through on-site visits, inspections, data review, and communication (individualized, telephonic, or written).
• Oversee Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• May be required to serve a probationary or trial period, including a 1-year supervisory probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process and provide acceptable forms of identification.
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver’s licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be used for employment verification.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 08/06/2026.

Basic Requirements

• Education: Successful completion of a master’s degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling, or social work from an accredited college or university.
• Internship or Experience Requirement:
  • Supervised Internship: The education must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counseling or case management specialization, supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related field.
  • Experience: One-year post-master’s degree experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities.
• Grandfathering Provision: VRCs employed in VBA on July 28, 2023, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held. Those who do not meet all basic requirements but met qualifications at the time of appointment may be reassigned, promoted, or changed to a lower grade within the occupation. If they leave the occupation, they lose protected status and must meet the full qualification standard requirements upon re-entry.

Time-in-Grade Requirement

• Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• For a GS-14 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level.
• Current VBA employees requesting reassignment or change to a lower grade must currently hold the GS-14 (or higher) level with promotion potential of at least GS-14.

Specialized Experience Requirements

• Reflects management of vocational rehabilitation counseling or case management workload involving individuals with a wide variety of disability conditions (e.g., mental health, physical, cognitive, visual/auditory, and substance abuse).
• Creditable experience must be post-graduate and directly related to the duties of a professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC).
• GS-14 Grade Level Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13), including:
  • Expertise with employment and vocational rehabilitation programs.
  • Knowledge and expertise in vocational and rehabilitation law procedures.
  • Expertise in counseling, rehabilitation, psychology, career development, and job placement entitlements.
  • Ability to control budgetary resources for approving and monitoring financial expenditures.
• Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education, 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. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis.

Schedule

• Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM.
• Telework: Eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee must report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved 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 position is primarily office-based. Some travel may be necessary for training, meetings, or customer interactions.

Additional Information

• A transcript must be submitted with your application, including coursework and the date of conferral of a master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation (or related field). Education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Unofficial transcripts may be submitted when applying; official transcripts or equivalent documentation will be required if selected.
• Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, and disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more.
• 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 qualify, you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (final rating of 85 or more).
• Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that would interfere with completing assessments, you may request reasonable accommodation.