Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist
Veterans Health Administration
Posted: February 12, 2026 (3 days ago)
This job was posted recently. Fresh listings typically have less competition.
Veterans Health Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
Location
Vancouver, Washington
Salary
$96,443 - $125,378
per year
Type
Full-Time
More Finance & Accounting jobs →Closes
Base salary range: $74,441 - $96,770
Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience at GS-11. Advanced degree + significant experience.
Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).
This job involves leading accounting teams and solving complex financial problems within the Veterans Health Administration, ensuring accurate accounting systems and compliance with federal policies.
A good fit would be someone with strong accounting expertise, leadership skills, and experience in government or healthcare finance who enjoys analyzing data and improving processes.
The Supervisory Accountant provides professional, comprehensive knowledge of theories, practices, methods, and techniques of accounting and organizational or program practices, policies and functions sufficient to analyze accounting systems, or to modify and adapt conventional accounting and analytical techniques to solve a variety of accounting problems.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet Time-In-Grade and Specialized Experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.
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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.
Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) - Basic Requirement To qualify for this position, applicants must meet the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) - Basic Requirement.
An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the GS 0510 occupational series. Education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained.
To qualify for this occupational series, applicants must have one of the following listed below: Degree: Accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting.
The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard.
Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.") OR, Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge.
The applicant's background must also include one of the following: Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality.
This can include up to 6 hours of business law; OR A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; OR Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that: (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.
In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement requirements, applicants must meet the following experience requirement: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Possess extensive knowledge of accounting principles, cost accounting, and auditing, demonstrated by managing multiple complex accounting systems and maintaining accurate and timely reports; extracting and analyzing data from accounting systems, providing detailed interpretations and recommendations; advising program managers on regulatory requirements, financial policies, data interpretation, and program improvements based on analysis of operations and reports; assisting with the supervision of a team of employees, including assigning and reviewing work to accomplish organizational objectives.
NOTE: 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.
Preferred Experience: Experience with VA accounting.
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 work is principally sedentary.
Some work may require walking in warehouses and similar areas to check on inventories and the existence of, or nature of, equipment and property.
Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the work site.
Some employees may carry light items, or drive a motor vehicle. No special physical effort or ability is required to do the work.
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/.
Major Duties:
Major duties include but are not limited to: Prepares a variety of reports and recommendations based on findings. Prepares complete reports of audit of a variety of program operations.
Performs professional operational accounting duties. Determines functional accounting requirements, assures interface between local accounting subsystems and the VA Financial Management System.
Administers an accounting system designed to track, reconcile, and report on agency administered programs and numerous appropriations for which the agency has legislative oversight responsibility.
Serves as technical accounting advisor to Chief, Financial Services and station management, including advising of proper procedures to be followed when procedures have not been disseminated to VA Medical Centers or have to be developed locally to meet station needs.
Validates a variety of accounting data covering operations, expenses, voucher examining, inventory and revenue accounts, which are entered into schedules and accounts.
Responsible for developing and furnishing accounting data and analysis as necessary or as requested by various operating officials.
Responsible for reviewing the overall accounting procedures and adapting or developing accounting procedures to meet the changing needs of VAO, local management, US Treasury, GAO, etc.
Serves as Chief, Financial Services in his/her absence. Supervises a staff of employees to accomplish the work of the organizational unit.
Exercises supervisory authorities and responsibilities involving work assignment and review, as well as performs the administrative and personnel management functions relative to staff supervision.
Interviews candidates for positions in the unit, recommends appointment, promotion, or reassignments.
Establishes guidelines and performance expectations for staff, which are clearly communicated through the formal employee performance management system.
Provides advice and counsel to workers related to work and administrative matters. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm PST Telework: Not eligible. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Accountant/PD214560 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.
Check your resume before applying to catch common mistakes