748job United States

Staff Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs › Veterans Benefits Administration (43 current openings)

Who may apply

Limited to the following applicant groups:

  • Internal to an agency
  • Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Houston, Texas
Full-time Security Clearance: Other
Application Deadline:
2026-08-19
Posted:
2026-08-12

Last day to apply

Apply on usajobs.gov
Salary: $71,181 – $92,541 per year (GS-9)

Salary context

Based on 441 annual-salary jobs in the same occupational series. This role pays below most similar positions.

Job Details

Position Overview

The incumbent of this position is located in the Office of Director at the Houston Regional Office (RO) reporting to the Assistant Director, who reports to the Director, who is a member of the Senior Executive Services. The office has jurisdiction for oversight of the Houston Regional Office. The Houston RO business lines include the Veterans Service Center (Houston and San Antonio), Human Resources, Veteran Readiness and Employment, Fiduciary Call Center, and the Support Services Division.

Duties

Specific duties include:

As the Staff Assistant for the Director's Office, the incumbent is directly responsible and accountable to the station's senior leadership team (Director, Assistant Director, and Division Chiefs) to provide analysis and support for a comprehensive program of management improvement and control in all phases of a diverse, complex, and dynamic mission.
  • Staff Assistant serves as the primary timekeeper for all personnel who report to the Director's Office for supervision.
  • Sets up and maintains the daily activity calendar for the Director and Assistant Director; schedules appointments and arranges meetings and assures that daily activities are well coordinated.
  • Staff Assistant coordinates daily on Veteran inquiries and Congressional responses.
  • Screens incoming visitors to the Director's suite and determines how best to assist and when visitor will see the Director/Assistant Director. Makes appointments and takes care of visitors as appropriate.
  • Writes original reports, letters, emails, directives, policy statements and other types of material for the signature of the Director and Assistant Director that will be released to OFO, District and VA Central Office, as well as any other internal/external entities.


Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:00 pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Staff Assistant; PD420920
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Qualifications & Requirements

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/19/2026.

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.
  • For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-09 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: Demonstrates knowledge and experience in analytical and evaluative techniques to identify and resolve issues or problems in administration/clerical realm.
OR
  • Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree (including LL.B. or J.D. if related) or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree and which demonstrates the competencies necessary to do the work. Must provide transcripts when substituting for education.
OR
  • 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: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort such as walking, bending, stooping, and carrying of light materials 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.Note:

Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications.

You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date.

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.

Requirements

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the Agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the Agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
  • 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
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Evaluations

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
  • Problem Solving
  • Oral and Written Communication
  • Laws and Regulation Knowledge

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Resumes may not exceed two pages and must be legible for review of eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. 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:
    • Contact Information:
      • Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number
    • Relevant Work Experience:
      • For each relevant work experience, make sure you include:
        • Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions)
        • Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 - 08/2022)
        • The number of hours you worked per week
      • Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement
    • Optional Details:
      • When relevant, include:
        • Current Security Clearance
        • Job-related training
        • Language skills
        • Organizations and affiliations
        • Professional publications
        • Eligibility for special programs (e.g., military spouses, individuals with disabilities, etc.)
  • Current Federal Employees:
    • Your most recent APPOINTMENT SF-50. The most recent 1XX or 5XX SF-50 proving status. This SF-50 should identify your appointing legal authority, position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
    • Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade and step (e.g., Within Grade Increase, Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
Additional Documents accepted:
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750)
  • Award SF-50s
  • Documentation to be considered under non-competitive eligibility (if applicable) such as a member-4 DD-214, civil service preference letter, or Schedule A letter.
  • 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.

How to Apply

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
  • Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
  • Use concise, results focused language
  • Align language from the job announcement
  • Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
  • Remove outdated or unrelated experience
  • Use the USAJOBS resume builder
Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:
  • https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.
  • https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merithiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.


To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.


To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

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.
Source: Data sourced from USAJOBS