Job Summary

The Community Employment Specialist is assigned to the Housing First Program, which falls under the Care Management and Social Work Service, and works under the administrative and clinical supervision of the Housing First Coordinator. The Community Employment Specialist carries out all duties related to obtaining and maintaining competitive employment for homeless or at-risk of homelessness Veterans who are referred by a homeless program provider or self-present for employment services.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/31/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements. Candidates must meet one of the following: Education. Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. or Specialized Experience. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program. Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention. Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. AND You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include experience with identifying the conditions needed for successful job placement for individuals who are chronically homeless, homeless, formerly homeless, or at-risk of homelessness and who may have poor or incomplete employment histories; and knowledge of techniques for negotiating with prospective employers to provide opportunities for homeless Veterans and to create environments that maximize the chances for success. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level 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 an LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Transcript Required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 18 semester hours of graduate level education. (Transcript Required) GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include strong background in and knowledge of individualized and customized job placement strategies; extensive experience identifying the conditions needed for successful job placement for individuals who are formerly homeless, homeless or a-risk of homelessness and who may have poor or incomplete employment histories; knowledge of techniques for negotiating with prospective employers to provide opportunities for homeless Veterans and to create environments that maximize the chances for success; strong background in and knowledge of networking with federal, state, and community agencies and employers. Experience which supports experience in with interpersonal and communication skills in order to be able to effectively communicate with Veterans and their families, employers, and community agencies; basic counseling and motivational interviewing skills; strong writing and communications skills, including experience with writing resumes, cover letters and other professional correspondence; and, must have working knowledge of MS Word or comparable word processing software to execute several office automation functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files, activating printers, inserting and deleting text, formatting letters, reports and memoranda, and transmitting and receiving e-mail. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Transcript Required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond a master's degree. (Transcript Required) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, but does require intermittent driving, standing and walking. A valid driver's license is required. The work requires that the incumbent drive on a regular basis as a significant amount of their time may be spent in the community meeting with Veterans, employers and other community agency representatives. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.