Investigator

Full Job Description

The Investigations Division is responsible for reviewing and investigating allegations of misconduct, retaliation, or poor performance involving VA's senior leaders and whistleblower retaliation allegations against all VA supervisors.

The Investigations Division makes recommendations for disciplinary, non-disciplinary, and corrective actions to leadership.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/02/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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.

See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Conducts formal administrative investigations related to misconduct and whistleblower retaliation under tight timeframes; plans and manages standard and high visibility investigations independently.

Determines the most efficient investigatory methods, the scope, and the complexity of the investigation while ensuring that it is within the agency's lawful jurisdiction to investigate.

Develops thorough preliminary case assessments, investigative plans, and comprehensive evidentiary records. Conducts witness interviews of high-level agency personnel.

Evaluates witness credibility by applying Hillen factors. Completes investigations and reports of investigations within expected timelines. Maintains and regularly updates an electronic case file.

Drafts and prepares well-written, logical, and grammatically correct reports. Maintains strict confidentiality.

Briefs supervisors and senior leaders on critical aspects of cases and establishes and maintains productive and professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Prepares analytical written material and composes written correspondence that is informative and logically organized.

You will also need to provide work experience information such as hours per week, salary, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of specialized experience at the required grade level).

Note: A writing sample will be required, if determined to be best qualified.

Significant experience as a Federal GS-1811 conducting criminal and/or internal/administrative investigations related to white collar crime, other misconduct, or whistleblower retaliation will be looked upon favorably.

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: Work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. Travel may be required.

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/.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy.

To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: A well-qualified candidate will demonstrate at least 7 years of experience conducting administrative or white collar criminal investigations focused on high profile, complex, senior leader misconduct and whistleblower retaliation cases.

This includes independently conducting investigations with minimal supervisory oversight as well as being part of an investigative team.

The 7 years of investigatory experience must demonstrably include 7 years of doing each of the following: identifying relevant issues and potential violations of law or policy, and determining whether the issues and potential subject(s) of the investigation are within the agency's jurisdiction to investigate; creating an investigative plan, in consultation with assigned attorneys; identifying relevant evidence needed to prove or otherwise resolve the allegations; crafting e-discovery requests narrowly tailored to collect only relevant information and using e-discovery tools to then sort, review, analyze, and identify relevant documents; drafting non-e-discovery requests for information and then sorting, reviewing, and analyzing the collected documents; conducting witness interviews of high-level officials and applying Hillen factors to determine credibility; writing and revising well-reasoned, factually sound, grammatically correct, and evidence-based reports of investigation, with proper citations to evidentiary exhibits; regularly meeting or beating deadlines without compromising investigative integrity; maintaining and regularly updating each case in an electronic case management system; and working with and coordinating with (investigative) attorneys on investigations.

The well-qualified candidate must also demonstrate ability to coordinate across internal departments and key stakeholders to foster communication and advance organizational goals; use of data analytics to track case progression and data accuracy and integrity; and exceptional verbal and written communication skills.

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Major Duties:

The incumbent provides comprehensive expert advice to senior leadership on matters under investigation and develops legally sufficient evidence and analysis to support disciplinary, non-disciplinary, and adverse action recommendations.

When appropriate, recommends corrective action for the Complainant in substantiated whistleblower retaliation and other cases when appropriate.

Independently investigates complex, highly visible, sensitive matters that may have the direct interest of the Secretary, members of Congress, non-government organizations, and/or media.

Receives, evaluates, and independently investigates allegations of senior leader misconduct, poor performance, and allegations of whistleblower retaliation by senior leaders or supervisors.

Researches applicable laws, regulations, and VA policies during the formation of investigative plans. Takes sworn recorded testimony and collects documentary evidence.

Analyzes evidence for creditability, relevance, and sufficiency, makes findings of fact and draws conclusions based on requirements of law, rule, regulation, and policy.

Ensures case files are complete, organized and include documents sufficient to complete the full scope of the investigation and make recommendations.

Prepares and executes requests for information to obtain evidence from various forms of electronic communications, personnel records, and other documents necessary to conduct the investigation.

Conducts sworn recorded interviews with complainants, witnesses, and respondents and analyzes transcripts.

These individuals may be, but are not limited to, officials at the highest levels of VA, senior leaders, and individuals external to VA. The investigations conducted may be of significant complexity.

Responsible for analyzing the veracity and relevance of witness testimony regarding allegations related to senior leader misconduct, poor performance, and whistleblower retaliation and when confronted with inconsistencies within the evidence, uses appropriate investigative techniques to resolve inconsistencies and credibility issues.

Plans and manages major investigations involving the VA's most senior executives and complex, sensitive senior leader accountability cases central to the VA's expressed objectives of achieving a VA-wide sustainable and credible senior leader accountability program.

Determines efficient investigatory methods, determines the scope of complex investigations, develops investigative plans, maintains comprehensive evidentiary records, makes ultimate findings, analyzes key policy questions resulting in recommendations, and provides technical advice to senior management on matters investigated.

Reviews investigative reports and findings from administrative investigation boards, VA fact-findings, OIG, OSC, MSPB, Government Accountability Office (GAO), OMI, EEOC, FLRA, and others to determine if further OAWP action is required.

Drafts and prepares detailed reports of investigations that clearly, concisely, and logically present relevant facts, analysis, conclusion, and recommendations for action.

Makes recommendations to OAWP senior executive leadership in convoluted and complicated investigations requiring extreme discretion.

OAWP investigations may involve significant unresolved legal, regulatory, or policy issues; intense and widespread public, media, or Congressional interest; patterns of regulatory non-compliance; sophisticated organizational structures; and technical and complex issues.

Demonstrates expert application of, statutes, relevant precedents, regulations, rules, and investigative practices and theories.

Provides comprehensive, authoritative advice, sound judgment, and significant participation in strategic decisions, contributing to the effectiveness of the OAWP mission.

Work Schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday with various tours available pending supervisory approval. May be subjected to change based on operational needs.

Compressed/Flexible: May be authorized by supervisor. Remote: Yes Position Description/PD#: 20003A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required