Lead Program Analyst (Budget)

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)
Washington, District of Columbia
Full-time Security Clearance: Other
Application Deadline:
2026-08-24
Posted:
2026-08-18

5 days left to apply

Salary: $143,913 – $187,093 per year (GS-14)

Salary context

Based on 247 annual-salary jobs in the same occupational series. This role pays above most similar positions.

Job Details

Position Overview

This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Office of Field Operations (OFO). This position serves as the Lead Program Analyst within a team of analysts within the Administrative, Budget and Communications Staff responsible for supporting OFO, Regional Offices, senior leadership and stakeholders.

Duties

Specific duties include:
  • Ensures strategic plan and overall mission and goals are incorporated into the team's work products and services.
  • Formulates and presents multi-year budget estimates for assigned business areas and ancillary programs. Coaches team members in preparing budget narratives to explain appropriation requests in a clear and concise manner.
  • Monitors the progress of work and notifies management in advance of any expected delays to completion.
  • Works with team members in applying problem solving methods and practices with the development of cost estimates.
  • Provides cross training to team members with accomplishing certain tasks. Trains team members to effectively accomplish tasks.
  • Conducts thorough analysis of the budgetary impact of legislation, regulations, and management initiatives.
  • Serves as a liaison between OFO and Department-level budget staff. Collaborates with other VA budget staff and VA actuaries projecting liabilities.
  • Serves as the lead on special projects and ad hoc requests, such as cost estimates for regulations and legislation that would impact various business lines.
  • Executes the budget for OFO and regional offices, to include reviewing apportionment requests, allocating funding authority, monitoring available funding in fiscal systems, formulating expenditure plans, analyzing monthly obligation/outlays and caseload reports, and updating the status of funds. Ensures the appropriate funding source is used and that funding requests are reasonable.
  • Reviews and recommend modifications and improvements in management reporting systems pertaining to OFO's budget. Directs and conducts special studies regarding budget operations and procedures.
  • Provides feedback to OFO leadership to improve complex processes, monitor progress, adjust in accordance with established priorities, and more timely complete assignments.
  • Prepare executive correspondence and briefings; leads discussions with VBA senior leaders, congressional staff, VSOs, and other stakeholders.
  • Performs other duties, as assigned.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Not 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#: Lead Program Analyst (Budget); 42239A
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:08/24/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 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 as described below:

GS-14 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as formulating, justifying, and executing multi-year budgets for an organization. Providing oversight of and adjustment to existing budgets through cost-benefit analyses and long-range analyses. Preparing executive level briefing related to budget execution.

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: Employment is sedentary; the employee sits comfortably to do the work. There may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items, such as papers, books, small parts; or boxes. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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 may 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 the 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
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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. 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):

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

The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.This position will utilize a Structured Interview Assessment which includes a pass/fail score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the pass score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the pass score or fail to complete the assessment.

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.)
  • A copy of 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 To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit a SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.).
  • Current VBA Employees seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade: you must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position.
  • An SF-50 showing 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.NOTE: Award and General Adjustment SF-50's do not provide sufficient information will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time in grade. Recommended SF-50's include Within Grade Increases (WGI), Promotions and Appointments.
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/
  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.

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.

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.

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.