Summary The Lead Civilian Pay Technician (CPT) leads subordinate CPTs and performs civilian pay program work in direct support of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Finance Service. The Lead CPT reports directly to the Finance Office Supervisory CPT. The Lead CPT works closely with the following: Supervisory CPT; subordinate CPTs; VA's Finance Service Center (FSC); servicing Human Resources (HR); all levels of VAMC supervisors, employees and union partners on all matters relating to payroll. Responsibilities Major Duties: Distribute and balance workload among CPTs in accordance with established workflow. Assure timely accomplishment of and enough CPT workload Ensure work assignments of subordinate CPTs are carried out. Maintain records of work accomplishments and time expended. Provide data, reports, guidance and sometimes resolution to the most complex payroll issues. Independently research, resolve and respond to complex and/or non-routine verbal and written pay and leave inquiries from employees, supervisors, Financial Service Center, HR, VISN, and VACO. Work with Deputy Chief Financial Officer (DCFO) in development of resolutions and/or solutions to unique or regular and recurring payroll errors based on recommendations from CPTs. Discuss resolutions/solutions with DCFO and as delegated: HR leadership; supervisor; union representative; subordinate CPTs and occasionally with impacted employees. Handle and assist subordinate CPTs with the most complex payroll actions. Review completed complex work to see that instruction on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. Training or written examples/instructions as necessary. Develop written procedures when there are no well-established procedures. Communicate errors to subordinate CPTs to handle independently and regular and recurring errors/issues related to systems/external offices. Inform timekeepers and supervisors of changes to leave and/or pay and of changes to existing or additional timekeeping policies, laws, and regulations which involve direction on what changes are made in the manner of posting of time and attendance records. Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for Ad-hoc- telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Requirements Conditions of Employment 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 Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/06/2024. 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-7, position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education is described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Ability to train and assist timekeepers and supervisors; analyze time records for accuracy and provide explanations for skewed results or deviations; have a broad knowledge of conducting audits; resolve cases involving overpayment/underpayment for multiple periods of service by reconstructing payment history; ensure compliance and/or provide advice or information to timekeepers, employees and supervisors; have advanced knowledge in VISTA; time and attendance system; HR Smart and other personnel or finance related automated systems to: pull reports; conduct extensive searches for required information to reconcile pay and leave discrepancies/errors; resolve routine and occasional complex pay issues; ability to review and complete retroactive payroll adjustments and track errors which involve corrections of pay and require extensive research of employee and/or office files and reports. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Ability to Lead or Supervise Communications Critical Thinking Teaching Others 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. 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 Lead CPT performs sedentary work. There may be some walking, standing, bending, and lifting up to 25 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.