Program Support 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)
Lincoln, Nebraska
Full-time Security Clearance: Other
Application Deadline:
2026-08-25
Posted:
2026-08-17

6 days left to apply

Salary: $45,409 – $59,031 per year (GS-6)

Salary context

Based on 153 annual-salary jobs in the same occupational series. This role's pay spans a broad range among similar positions.

Job Details

Position Overview

This position is located at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Lincoln Regional Office (RO), Fiduciary Hub. The Fiduciary Hub is responsible for direct customer service (through in-person and telephone contacts), fiduciary appointment, and fiduciary oversight for all Veterans, beneficiaries, and minors, within the Fiduciary Program.

This position is physically located in Lincoln, NE. Selectees must relocate at their own expense.

Duties

Specific duties include:
  • Receives, reviews, indexes incoming mail and uploads documents into; Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) from a Centralized Mail Portal (CMP). Assigns mail and uploaded documents to proper eFolder.
  • Reroutes mail to other stations and process unidentifiable mail within the CMP.
  • Picks up mail from the postal service as needed as well as takes outgoing mail to the schedule drop-off point daily.
  • Completes all tasks within established time frames.
  • Establishes UPS accounts and provides support for out-based employees with regards to their UPS accounts.
  • Prepare various written correspondence (e.g., reports of contact, letters, responses to FOIA requests, etc.) and provides information for statistical and narrative reports.
  • Receives, opens, reviews, and date stamps all incoming correspondence mail; analyzes correspondence received and routes appropriately.
  • Takes appropriate measures to ensure there is no uncontrolled mail left on/in any mailroom desk, fax machine, copier, scanner, or mailroom table.
  • Reviews and processing any necessary outgoing letters to ensure accuracy, no PII violations exist, and proper postal procedures are met.
  • Develops straightforward evidence in conjunction with fiduciary claims and assists with the gathering of evidence for more complex cases.
  • Utilizes and inputs information into various automated systems associated with Fiduciary Hub operations.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday. 8:00am to 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Yes - 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#: Program Support Assistant; PD418240
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Qualifications & Requirements

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/25/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
  • If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-06 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least None.
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 as described below:
GS-06 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: To qualify at the GS-06 level, you must possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal Government. Specialized Experience is defined as experience routing incoming correspondence and adhering to policies and procedures to ensure records are properly managed in an office setting.

    There is no educational substitution for this position.
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 mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items. The incumbent must be able to set up and tear down the VA computer equipment and transport this equipment securely between the official duty station to the alternate work sight as appropriate based on any established telework agreement. The incumbent would also be responsible for transporting the VA computer equipment to the Regional Office for all IT repairs that cannot be handled remotely.

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/.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Evaluations

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):

  • Accountability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

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

  • Computer Skills
  • Organizational Stewardship
  • Analysis and Problem Solving
  • Customer Service
  • Attention to Detail

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.
  • Current VBA Employees: If you are seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade, you must submit a copy of your most recent appointment SF-50 and an SF-50 that reflects when you entered your highest grade and step as described above.
Additional Documents accepted:
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750)
  • Award SF-50s
  • 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/

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

  1. Click the Apply Online button.
  2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
  3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
  4. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
  5. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
  6. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
  7. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
  8. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.
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.