Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.

About the role

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation, counseling, and case management services to disabled veterans and other eligible individuals. The program's primary focus is on helping the Veteran find work and set goals and objectives to help them become more independent in their daily lives.

Responsibilities

• Perform initial rehabilitation evaluations, entitlement assessments, rehabilitation planning, problem-solving and adjustment counseling, and case management, including the coordination of all rehabilitation services.
• Provide case documentation, employment services, and, as necessary, the administration and interpretation of vocation testing.
• Provide services for employer consultation, employment development and placement, career counseling, and vocational planning and assessment.
• Combine data from diagnostic tests and medical records to give a comprehensive picture of strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and interests to help service members and Veterans find a suitable employment or independent living objective.
• Partner with Vet Centers, career centers, local Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program Specialists, Local Veterans' Employment Representatives, VA employment programs, and others to provide job search and placement services.
• Provide information and guidance on the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program to service members and veterans through both individual counseling sessions and group briefings.
• Conduct counseling using a variety of approaches, including tele-counseling, depending on the needs of the service members and Veterans.
• Partner with administrators at schools, Vet Centers, military bases, and federal, state, and local agencies to determine the individual needs of service members and Veterans.
• The IDES VRC is located at a partnering Department of Defense (DoD) military installation and provides early outreach to wounded, ill, or injured active duty Servicemembers. This position integrates VR&E services into the IDES process without disrupting the disability rating process and offers the full range of VR&E services to Servicemembers while they are in the disability evaluation process.

Requirements

Applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 09/03/2026.

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 in the Basic Requirements above must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counseling or case management specialization. The internship must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs.
• Experience: One-year post-master's degree experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities.

Specialized Experience

• GS-09: There are no additional qualification requirements at this grade level.
• GS-11:
  • Completion of one year post-graduate work providing professional vocational rehabilitation services equivalent to the next lower grade level of GS-09.
  • Specialized experience reflects the management of vocational rehabilitation counseling or case management workload involving persons with a wide variety of disability conditions (e.g., mental health, physical, cognitive, visual/auditory, and substance abuse).
  • Education Substitution: Successful completion of 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in rehabilitation counseling or counseling psychology.
• GS-12:
  • One year of post-graduate level professional vocational rehabilitation counseling experience, equivalent to the GS-11 level is required.
  • Specialized Experience: One year of specialized vocational rehabilitation experience in a federal, state, and/or private vocational rehabilitation setting equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level.
  • Education cannot be used to qualify for the GS-12.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• 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.
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• As a condition of employment, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.