Accountant(Systems)
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
Summary
This position is located in the Debt Management Center (DMC), Support and Special Operations Division, in St. Paul, MN. The primary purpose of this position is to serve as a Systems Accountant providing guidance and technical assistance for accomplishing the work of the data analytics team and ensures assigned work is completed timely. The incumbent performs duties in data analytics under the SSOD Division Chief, who reports to the DMC Director of Strategic Management & Special Operations.
Learn more about this agencyOverview
- Accepting applications
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Open & closing dates
11/20/2024 to 11/29/2024
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Salary
$88,520 - $115,029 per year
The salary range listed reflects the GS base rate (not including locality). Upon selection, the salary will be adjusted
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Pay scale & grade
GS 13
- Help
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
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Remote job
No
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Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
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Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
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Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
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Appointment type
Permanent
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Work schedule
Full-time - Tour will be established between 6:00am and 6:00pm CST. Alternate work schedules may be available.
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Service
Competitive
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Promotion potential
13
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Job family (Series)
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Supervisory status
No
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Security clearance
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Drug test
No
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Position sensitivity and risk
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Trust determination process
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Financial disclosure
No
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Bargaining unit status
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Announcement number
189-25-ST-12614734-NBU
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Control number
819844900
This job is open to
- Federal employees - Competitive service
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
- Internal to an agency
Current federal employees of this agency.
- Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
- Veterans
- Individuals with disabilities
- Military spouses
- Special authorities
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
- Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista
- Land & base management
Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.
Clarification from the agency
This vacancy announcement is open to current/former, permanent, career/career conditional federal employees (competitive or excepted service), VEOA and CTAP eligible, and those covered by the indicating hiring paths.
Duties
- Designing and maintaining connections to databases and creating the framework for reporting systems; this includes fixing coding errors and other data-related problems.
- Mining data from primary and secondary sources, then reorganizing said data in a format that can be easily read by either human or machine.
- Collaborating with programmers, engineers, and organizational leaders to identify opportunities for process improvements, recommend system modifications, and develop policies for data governance.
- Creating appropriate documentation that allows stakeholders to understand the steps of the data analysis process and duplicate or replicate the analysis if necessary.
- Using statistical tools to interpret data sets, paying particular attention to trends and patterns that could be valuable for diagnostic and predictive analytics efforts.
- Preparing reports for executive leadership that effectively communicate trends, patterns, and predictions using relevant data.
- Receiving and analyzing various financial system reports and prepares/consolidates those financial reports to identify problem areas, trends, and opportunities for improvement.
- Using established analytical techniques to review trends, process efficiency, and statistical data developing recommendations for improvement.
- Communicating pertinent financial trends and areas of risk to management while identifying and providing data required for use in the management and direction of programs.
- Conducting ad-hoc and recurring data extracts and reporting for complex requests involving numerous VA financial systems.
Telework Available: Up to and including 50% telework
Duty Location Status: (Please choose one)
Fort Snelling, MN
Austin, TX
Washington, DC
Title/PD#: Accountant(Systems) GS - 13; PD 41414-A
Promotion Potential: GS-13
Time-in-grade: Applicants who are/were federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. To support your claim of time in grade, you must submit your most recent appointment, promotion, or within grade increase SF-50 (not an award or general adjustment SF-50). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 to demonstrate their eligibility. See the required documents section for more information.
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary and may require sitting, walking, standing, bending and carrying light items such as books, papers and files.
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. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Please contact the special placement coordinator or the human resources specialist listed on this vacancy for more information regarding applying for consideration under schedule A or as a 30% disabled Veteran.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
- Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
- A complete application package; Resume, and other documents particular to your application needs (i.e., Transcript, SF-50 etc.).
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- A probationary period may be required for employees and supervisors.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this
announcement, 11/29/2024.
The Office of Personnel Management's group coverage qualification standards, associated individual occupational requirements (IOR), and individual qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found Here.
Basic Requirement: 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
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:
- Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
- A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or
- 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.
To qualify for the GS-13: To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-12) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
Specialized experience is defined as: (1) Designing and maintaining connections to databases by creating the framework for reporting systems; this includes fixing coding errors and other data-related problems; (2) Collaborating with programmers, engineers, and organizational leaders to identify opportunities for process improvements, recommend system modifications, and develop policies for data governance; (3) Using statistical tools to interpret data sets, paying particular attention to trends and patterns that could be valuable for diagnostic and predictive analytics efforts; (4) Creating appropriate documentation that allows stakeholders to understand the steps of the data analysis process and duplicate or replicate the analysis if necessary; (5) Conducting ad-hoc and recurring data extracts and reporting for complex requests involving numerous VA financial systems; AND (6) Communicating pertinent financial trends and areas of risk to management while identifying and providing data required for use in the management and direction of programs.
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
Note: 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 you document, to include volunteer experience
Education
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
Additional information
Telework Eligibility - This position is eligible to voluntarily enter into an agreement for telework up to 50% of the time (5 days per two week pay period). While this will allow you to work from home part of the time, you may need to travel to the agency worksite in St. Paul, MN to attend new employee orientation and portions of the training program. This agreement is not a condition of employment, you must voluntarily agree to abide by the DMC telework policy and will travel to the agency worksite as required (with proper notice) for on-site teambuilding/training or any established business need of the agency.
The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. A well-qualified candidate is defined as meeting all of the minimum qualification standards and eligibility requirements as well as possessing skills that clearly exceed the minimum qualifications requirements for this position. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility can be found Here.
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.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
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 or who do not possess the education to substitute for it 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:
Creative Thinking - Develops new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to make organizational improvements; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs/processes.
Data Management - Knowledge of the principles, procedures, and tools of data management, such as modeling techniques, data backup, data recovery, data dictionaries, data warehousing, data mining, data disposal, and data standardization processes.
Data Administration - Knowledge of the principles, methods, and tools for automating, developing, implementing, or administering database systems.
Information Assurance - Knowledge of methods and procedures to protect information systems and data by ensuring their availability, authentication, confidentiality, and integrity.
Information Management - Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information, organizes and maintains information or information management systems.
Planning and Evaluating - Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.
Problem Solving - Identifies and analyzes problems; uses sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; finds alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical judgements.
If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job-related information, which may include, but is not limited to responses to the knowledge, skills, and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview.
Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
Required Documents
Review the information below and submit any additional documents (as needed) to demonstrate your eligibility and/or qualifications for the position:
Current Federal Employees:
- If you are applying using your status as a current federal employee or as a VEOA candidate (who is a current federal employee) you must submit an SF-50.
- To support your claim that you have the required time-in-grade, you must submit your most recent promotion, within-grade increase, or appointment SF-50 (not an award or general adjustment SF-50). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 in order to demonstrate their eligibility.
- If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit an SF-50 showing that grade.
- Your resume may be submitted in any format, however we strongly recommend using USA Jobs resume builder as it contains all of the information required on federal resumes.
- For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week, the dates of employment, and the level of your experience. If your resume does not contain this information you will not receive consideration for this position.
- If you submit more than one copy of your resume, only the most recent version will be reviewed. The latest timestamp will be used to determine which version of your resume is "most recent." It is your responsibility to check the status and timestamp of all documents you submit as part of your application.
- If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
- A legible copy of your DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," showing all dates of service, as well as character of service (Honorable, General, etc.). The member 4 copy of your DD Form 214 is preferable. Copies of DD-214's can be requested Here.
- Current active duty members must submit a signed statement of service from their commander dated within the last 120 days that contains their expected discharge date, their release from active duty under honorable conditions, any medals awarded, and the timeframe of their service so eligibility can be determined.
- Veterans claiming 10 point preference must also submit an SF-15 and all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference. This includes a VA letter supporting your disability claim with the overall percentage listed.
- If you are unsure as to whether you qualify for Veterans' preference, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor Here.
- If you are basing all or some of your qualifications on education or if a degree is required for the position, a transcript must be included as part of your application package.
- Unofficial transcript(s) may be submitted, however it must contain the course names, levels, credits earned, and grades received.
- Your transcript must contain the degree conferred date if you are substituting a degree for experience.
- If you are claiming superior academic achievement (SAA) ensure you submit completed transcript(s) to demonstrate it. The requirements for superior academic achievement can be viewed Here.
- A photocopy of your degree is not acceptable in place of a transcript.
- An official transcript will be required at a later date if you are selected for the position.
- Certification of expected separation, reduction-in-force separation notice, or notice of proposed removal; and your most recent performance evaluation; and an SF-50 demonstrating your separation or the position you will be separated from. Or
- Worker's compensation separation: agency certification of inability to place employee and notification of separation or a separation SF-50. Or
- Disability annuity termination: Notification from OPM of disability annuity termination and separation SF-50 of the last position held. Or
- Military reserve or National Guard technician special disability retirement annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456: Certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard bureau and separation SF-50 of the last position held
In addition to the information listed above, please use this checklist to ensure you have included other documents required for your application.
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.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12614734 and submit the documentation specified in the job announcement. Documents will not be accepted after the closing date of the announcement.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/29/2024 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click apply online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click submit my answers to submit your application package.
Note: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, select the application status link and then select the more information link for this position. The details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS accountand click update application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Agency contact information
- Address
- VA Debt Management Center
1 Federal Dr, Fort Snelling
St Paul, MN 55111-4050
US
Next steps
After the review is complete, a referral certificate will be issued, and applicants will be notified of their status by email (if provided). 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 USAJOBS account: Here
For a more detailed update of your status, click on "more information." Information regarding applicant process can be found: Here
Fair & Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.