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Supervisory Accountant

U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

Accounting & Finance, People & HR, Operations
Posted on Jul 2, 2024

Summary

The position is located at the Veterans Benefits Administration Finance Center (VBAFC), Hines, Illinois, and is organizationally aligned under the Office of Financial Management (OFM), VA Central Office. The incumbent in this position serves as a Supervisory Accountant within the VBAFC under the oversight and supervision of the Deputy Director.

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Overview

  • Accepting applications
  • Open & closing dates

    07/01/2024 to 07/08/2024

  • Salary

    $115,439 - $150,075 per year

  • Pay scale & grade

    GS 13

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    Location

    1 vacancy in the following location:

  • Remote job

    No

  • Telework eligible

    Yes—as determined by the agency policy.

  • Travel Required

    25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.

  • Relocation expenses reimbursed

    No

  • Appointment type

    Permanent

  • Work schedule

    Full-time

  • Service

    Competitive

  • Promotion potential

    None

  • Job family (Series)

    0510 Accounting

  • Supervisory status

    Yes

  • Security clearance

    Other

  • Drug test

    No

  • Position sensitivity and risk

    Moderate Risk (MR)

  • Trust determination process

    Suitability/Fitness


  • Announcement number

    12461851-HIN-24-MWM

  • Control number

    797906600

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This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Finance Center employees (Facility), AND CTAP eligible employees.

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Duties

Specific duties include:

  1. Performs a wide variety of administrative and analytical duties to assure the propriety and integrity of the VBA benefit payment systems and administrative functions of the VBAFC
  2. Directs and supervises the financial system functions as they relate to benefit program financial information
  3. Plans, assigns, and schedules work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts priorities, and evaluates work performance of subordinates
  4. Estimates and monitors the flow of work, assignments, and projects and reports on the status and progress to ensure established milestones and deadlines are met
  5. Identifies, arranges, and provides developmental and training needs of employees
  6. Responsible for developing and maintaining performance standards and conducting performance evaluations for all subordinate employees
  7. Supervises the Division in assessing its strengths and weaknesses and provides leadership to explore alternatives and determine improvements
  8. Represents the Division in dealings with Management for the purpose of obtaining resources and securing information or decisions on major work problems and issues
  9. Performs and coordinates analytical reviews of fiscal processes for existing, developing, and new financial management systems within the VBA and recommends improved processes and procedures to higher management
  10. Assists responsible officials of VA staff offices, Regional Office and field stations, Department of Treasury, Federal Reserve branches, and financial institution activities in the analysis and solution of difficult and complex technical, financial, and/or procedural matters to ensure a smooth integration and interface of proposed system changes with existing systems
  11. Reviews and makes recommendations to manuals, directives, and instructions for the purpose of creating new systems/methods or improving/appraising the effectiveness of financial and reporting methods/procedures
  12. Ensures the organization's strategic plan, mission, vision, and values are communicated to personnel and integrated into the goals, objectives, and work products/services
  13. Articulates and communicates assignments, projects, problems to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or program issues under review, and deadlines/timeframes for completion
  14. Responsible for the application of appropriate problem-solving techniques, work methods, practices, and procedures, and identifies the parameters of a viable solution
  15. Researches, learns, and applies a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to identify, assess, analyze, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of work products
  16. Serves as the VBAFC business lead or as a team member in the development, implementation, and operation of all systems affecting VBAFC programs
  17. Responsible for Department of Veterans Affairs systems regarding new Department of Treasury initiatives and memorandums of understanding and their interplay with VA programs governed by Congressional laws and regulations / reviews and is responsible for the development of revisions needed due to legislative changes and the effects on Veteran payments and records
  18. Manages the day-to-day operational and processing requirements, administers proper internal controls, manages financial system processing, and assists in developing processing controls/procedures for new financial systems or business requirements
  19. Assists in developing, maintaining, and administering a complex set of automated systems/subsystems to produce accurate and timely financial information by applying knowledge of Federal legislation, VA regulations, information technology directives, and automated systems to assist in developing and defining system specifications
  20. Provides financial advice and assistance for internal agency operating programs / analyzes and develops plans for implementing national policy issues
  21. Evaluates complex financial systems such as Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS) and Treasury's TCIS system relative to the VA Benefit Payment programs on a continuing basis / analyzes problems which are new or novel in nature
  22. Responsible for the development, oversight, and implementation of internal quality reviews for those programs supported by the VBAFC
  23. Performs as central point-of-contact in the development of financial systems that deal with payment/nonpayment of check claims and serves as the principal advisor
  24. Manages all audit activities including performance, operational, and compliance reviews conducted both internally and externally
  25. Responsible for organization initiatives demonstrating the benefits of enterprise risk management

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Accountant; PD02330-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
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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
  • Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/08/2024.

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements

  1. Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")

    or

  2. Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following:
    1. Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
    2. A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or
    3. Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

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.

To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). 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 also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade.
  • For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to the basic requirement above, you may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-13 Grade Level:

Specialized Experience:
  • The Supervisory Accountant requires a thorough knowledge of directing and supervising the financial system functions in support of Benefit Payment programs as they relate to financial information.
  • Performs a wide variety of complex administrative and analytical duties to assure the propriety and integrity of VBA financial systems as they directly affect the nationwide Benefit systems.
  • The incumbent is responsible for leading an effective Quality Assurance and Enterprise Risk Management program.
  • The incumbent manages all audit activities including performance, operational, and compliance reviews conducted both internally and externally for the diverse and complex operations of the VBA Finance Center covering different and unrelated processes and functions.
  • Activities include program planning and execution, program monitoring and reporting, inspection and review of fiscal and related accounts, and determination of compliance with regulatory requirements.
  • The incumbent plans, conducts, and reports on audits and applying or adapting standard audit practices to the peculiarities of the assignment.
  • The incumbent is key technical expert in policy and procedural development concerning these programs and serves as the principle advisor to VA Central Office officials.
  • The incumbent performs and coordinates analytical reviews of accounting processes for these systems to recommend improved procedures for existing, developing, and new financial management systems within VBA.
  • Demonstrates effective communication skills to articulate information, findings, and recommendations.
  • The effect impacts several major VBA-wide Benefit programs in addition to programs outside the organization.
  • Analyzes problems which are new or novel in nature.
Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information.
Volunteer Experience: 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.
Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.
Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary although some slight physical effort may be required.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

Additional 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.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Placement 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, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

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How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants who do not fully address the specialized experience needed for the position (as described above in the job announcement) in their resume will not be referred for consideration.

After you have met the minimum qualifications, you will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position:

  1. Leadership - Ability to motivate and guide others toward goal accomplishment and coaches/mentors subordinates / Ability to provide leadership in assessing/exploring alternatives to work processes to improve production or increase the quality of the work directed
  2. Planning and Evaluating - Ability to organize work, sets priorities, and determine resource requirements and short and long term goals and strategies / Ability to coordinate with other organizations to accomplish goals, monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes
  3. Quality Management - Ability to use knowledge of principles, methods, and tools of quality assurance, quality control, and reliability to ensure a project, system, or product fulfills requirements and standards / Ability to review and evaluate activities and related internal controls for the effectiveness and efficiency of operations
  4. Risk Management- Ability to apply knowledge of the principles, methods, and tools used for risk assessment and mitigation, including assessment of failures and consequences / Ability to recommend and promote best practices in risk management and ensure all analyses are thorough and accurate
  5. Strategic Thinking - Ability to formulate effective strategies consistent with the business and competitive strategy of the organization / Ability to examine policy issues and strategic planning with a long-term perspective, determine objectives, and anticipate potential challenges or opportunities
  6. Accounting Operations- Ability to apply knowledge of general ledger accounting and the control/subsidiary account reconciliation techniques and statistical data to prepare documents and reports / Ability to develop a complex set of automated systems/subsystems to effectively produce accounting/financial information

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview.
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Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement.

  • Resume detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position.
    • For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
  • Your most recent NON-AWARD SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
  • Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
  • Transcript
Additional Documents accepted:
  • CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal
Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

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How to Apply

Complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 07/08/2024 to receive consideration. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12461851.

  1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
  2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
Click here for instructions on viewing your application status.
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Agency contact information

Chenele Coleman-Sellers
Address
VBA Financial Service Center
5000 S 5TH AVE.
Hines, IL 60141
US
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Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

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