Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Human Resources Specialist focused on employee relations and labor relations. The role involves providing HR services, consulting with leadership, and resolving employee-related issues while ensuring compliance with regulations.
Responsibilities
- Provides technical guidance - advice and counseling to management officials and supervisors to address issues with workforce-related conduct and performance
- Develops strategies to respond to employee-related issues
- Prepares appropriate agency responses to employee relations matters
- Provides consultation on associated program areas - such as reasonable accommodation and leave management
- Delivers training for management and employees on a variety of employee relations topics
- Incumbent prepares a variety of correspondence on behalf of the agency to address complex employee relations matters including - disciplinary and adverse actions - settlement agreements - and congressional correspondence
- Provides services to an integrated healthcare network - ensuring strict adherence to all contractual and regulatory timeframes
- Advises management officials at all levels of the network - including senior leaders - about appropriate disciplinary or other corrective techniques in response to a range of conduct and performance problems
- Explains rules and procedures to employees and management to help them understand rights and obligations while maintaining and encouraging objectivity in situations that may be charged with emotion and involve assumptions
- Resolves disputes and evaluates events and/or identifies aggravating or mitigating factors relevant to the case
- Conducts and Advises on ER matters - all proposed adverse actions - coordination and oversight - including OAWP - DAB - AIB - fact findings - grievance examiner - state licensure reviews - suitability - Drug Free Workplace - Workplace Violence Prevention Program - and third-party hearing representation Must also apply a high degree of insight and technical competence to recognize and accomplish management objectives without sacrificing fundamental principles
- Must have the stature - foresight - maturity - and ability to negotiate and reach amicable solutions to complex and controversial problems
- Provides services to an integrated healthcare network - ensuring strict adherence to all contractual and regulatory timeframes
- Develops management strategies to respond to labor issues
- Prepares appropriate agency responses to labor-related matters
- Offers technical guidance - information and assistance to management and senior leadership officials on sensitive - serious - and controversial labor relations issues regarding employees in a wide variety of administrative and clinical occupations with substantial differences in working conditions - entitlement - and occupational practices and policies
- Provides technical and consultative guidance - including actions of a disciplinary or adverse nature - grievances - demands to bargain - impasse proceedings - local bargaining - unfair labor practices - performance management and recognition - employee counseling - appeals - complaints - drug testing and related functions
- Provides management with interpretation of policies - procedures - and collective bargaining agreements
- Analyzes changes to regulations and policies to determine the impact on the labor relations program
- Determines need for impact and implementation or full bargaining at the appropriate level (local - network - or national bargaining)
- Represent management at arbitrations and in situations involving proceedings before other third-parties - as appropriate
- Other related duties as assigned
Skills
- Applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 07/22/2026
- 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 by the closing date of this announcement
- For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11
- An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials
- 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 provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade
- Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment
- The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above
- To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level - you must meet one of the following listed Criteria:
- Criteria 1: Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level
- Such experience may be gained in administrative - professional - technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e. - Government or military) or private sector
- Qualifying specialized experience includes: Provides consultation on associated program areas - advises management officials at all levels of the network - including senior leaders - about appropriate disciplinary or other corrective techniques in response to a range of conduct and performance problems - resolves disputes and evaluates events and/or identifies aggravating or mitigating factors relevant to the case
- OR Criteria 2: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge - concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas
- Such experience may be gained in administrative - professional - technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e. - Government or military) or private sector
- Qualifying specialized experience includes: Provides technical guidance - advice and counseling to management officials and supervisors to address issues with workforce-related conduct and performance - resolves disputes and evaluates events and/or identifies aggravating or mitigating factors relevant to the case - conducts and Advises on ER matters - all proposed adverse actions - coordination and oversight
- Creditable experience is specialized experience that demonstrates the application of HR management knowledge - concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas
- This experience may be obtained in the public sector - private sector or military (see Quality of Experience section below)
- This experience must be equivalent to Federal service in terms of difficulty and complexity of duties
- Skills obtained from these experiences are cumulative - which means that as an employee progresses in their career - skills acquired at lower levels remain applicable as new skills are added
- Impact of Time-in-Grade Restrictions: Unless excluded from coverage under 5 C.F.R. Part 300 - Subpart F - current (and some former) Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements to qualify for the grade level through Criteria 1: graduate degree and specialized experience
Benefits
- VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package
- Full Time
- Monday - Friday
- 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. PST
- Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency
- Ad hoc telework authorized
- This is a virtual position
Company Overview