The Field Examiner (FE) determines the payee (fiduciary) best suited to the needs and situation of VA beneficiaries, who are incompetent due to legal disability, mental disability, physical disability or minority. The Field Examiner ensures that beneficiaries receive all the benefits they are entitled to and take necessary action to protect their assets. Duties will be performed via mobile work at the following locations in the Fairfield, IL area: Wayne, Clay, Clinton, or Marion IL counties.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/05/2026.

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. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 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. 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09

Grade Level:

Specialized Experience:

To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves (1) performing fact finding procedures in order to fully assess a situation; (2) Gathering information through observation, analysis of records, and/or performing personal interviews which may be conducted virtually or in person OR (3) Verifying information to ensure accuracy.

Education Substitution :

You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. GS-11

Grade Level:

Specialized Experience:

To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves (1) performing fact finding procedures in order to fully assess a situation; (2) Gathering information through observation, analysis of records, and/or performing personal interviews which may be conducted virtually or in person; (3) Verifying information to ensure accuracy OR (4) Making determinations of adherence to laws, regulations, and agency policy

Education Substitution:

You must have at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related.

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 job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries. 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/ .