Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation)

The Legal Administrative Specialist (LAS) serves as a member of the Public Contact Team, located in the Veterans Service Center. The incumbent provides in-depth information and comprehensive assistance to Veterans, their dependents, and beneficiaries concerning any matter within the scope of VA benefits and related non-VA benefits. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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. Specific duties include:

• Coordinates counseling sessions with Veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries face to face, regarding all benefits available though VA, as well as non-VA benefits available through other agencies.
• Explains in detail VBA rating decisions, and provides explanations for the decisions using extensive knowledge of VA benefits and services, claim and appeal procedures and benefit determination information and all pertinent information available in system of record.
• Assists with programs including but not limited to compensation and pension benefits, home loan eligibility, education, health care, life insurance, burial benefits, vocational rehabilitation services, general Social Security Administration benefits programs, other federal, state and local domestic relations, and assistance programs.
• Prepares technical correspondence to veterans and their dependents providing benefit information, representation rights and response to miscellaneous inquiries.
• Explains pertinent legal provisions, regulations, and related administrative practices and their application to specific cases.
• May serve as or with the Outreach Coordinator (such as the Women's Veterans Coordinator, Ex-Prisoners of War Coordinator or Military Services Coordinator.
• Initiates inquiries to resolve errors, delays, or other problems in obtaining benefits. Completes claim and appeal related work.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, hours to be determined by the hiring office.
Compressed: May be available as determined by the hiring office.
Telework: Ad-hoc telework may be authorized as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation); PD02108A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:06/30/2026.

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-10 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9 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-10 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience:

1. Experience that has demonstrated the capability of being self-reliant decision maker and possessing the ability to work independently when providing customer service benefits counseling and claims processing,
2. The individual must posses in-depth knowledge of researching relevant subject matter.
3. The experience should be significantly and directly derived from federal, military, or the private sector.

Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs; performing research of local, state, and federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

• Education Substitution:

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have possess two and a half years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position. (Must submit transcripts.).

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 normally involves mental rather than physical exertion.

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/.