Why This Program Specialist (Training Coordinator) Job Matters
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Program Specialist (Training Coordinator) Job Overview
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:11/13/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal progression for the occupation within the organization. Specialized experience is defined as performing training or qualify review on the work of others with regard to applying the full range of Veterans' benefits programs to assist Veterans, their beneficiaries, and other representatives. OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have earned a master's or equivalent graduate degree (including LL.B or J.D.) OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-07 level. Equivalent combinations of (1) specialized experience and (2) PH.D. graduate education. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.) Specialized Experience: GS-11 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal progression for the occupation within the organization. In addition to the Specialized Experience required at the GS-9 grade level, Specialized experience for the GS-11 is defined as experience in one of the following: Developing training guidelines and objectives, instructional methods and course material Providing management advisory services, including making planned, systematic studies of immediate and long-range training needs Managing a training program to include planning and coordinating all activities for assigned students, instructors and classes OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have earned 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 to the competencies. 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: Work is usually sedentary but may require walking and standing during training sessions. 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/.