Job Summary

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.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 11/02/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal GS employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 07 or higher and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-09. 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. 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 REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-5) or higher. 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. Specialized experience is defined as: The ability to work with direct supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing. The individual must possess knowledge of researching relevant subject matter. 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. OR Education Substitution: One (1) full year of graduate level education or a Bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (3.0 GPA or higher) Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) is based on: 1) class standing, 2) grade point average or 3) honor society membership. For more information on calculating SAA please visit www.opm.gov. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. GS-09 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7) or higher. 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. Specialized experience is defined as: The ability to work with minimum supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing. The individual must possess moderate knowledge of researching relevant subject matter. 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. OR Education Substitution: A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; OR Two full years of progressively higher level graduate education or a master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as LL.B. or J.D.) 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: No special physical demands are required. The work is mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, claims folders, and files from one desk to another or for returning to storage. Carts are utilized to carry large number of claims folders. This will require the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another. 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/.