SummaryResponsible for developmental and other routine assignments in the administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs Home Loan program. The Regional Loan Center's jurisdiction encompasses the entire United States and its territories; involving wide and varied geographical, economic, social, political conditions, and influences, which have significant effects on the real estate and mortgage lending industries.
DutiesHelp
Specific Duties include:
- The incumbent reviews submitted documentation including VA forms, resolving data discrepancies, to make eligibility determinations, and issue Certificates of Eligibility.
- Reviews the underwriting of loan applications submitted to VA for guaranty in-order to ensure lender compliance with VA underwriting guidelines and regulations such as fees and charges.
- Answers incoming calls and personally handles inquiries, through personal or written contacts, to guide, counsel, and instruct program participants on aspects of the VA Home Loan program, while ensuring prompt and courteous service.
- Recommends approval or disapproval of restoration of entitlement, release of liability and substitution of entitlement applications; and audits releases or assumptions processed and approved by lenders, requesting additional documentation as necessary.
- Maintains records and controls in compliance with established procedures; prepares reports and quality control reviews and performs all functions relative to the maintenance of lender files. To include lender monitoring, underwriter approvals, and review of supervised/non-supervised lender applications.
- Underwrites complex loan applications; by analyzing the financial capacity of joint mortgagors, marginal loan applicants, Veterans who receive pensions, income based on operations of business firms, multi-family housing rentals, or unstable incomes.
- Collects, researches, analyzes, interprets, retrieves, and inputs data for/from a variety of computer systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel, SharePoint, and Salesforce applications.
- Conducts training and outreach with individual lenders throughout assigned areas to survey operations and meet with underwriters, processors, loan originators, and loan closers/shippers to ensure they are complying with laws, regulations, and all VA Home Loan program directives.
- Completes post guaranty loan reviews and based on findings from the review, notifies mortgage lenders of technical errors, any actions necessary for correction, and makes recommendations of specific training needs.
- Provides preliminary recommendation for Funding Fee refunds by researching computer systems and the Funding Fee Payment System (FFPS).
- Maintains section registers, logs, feeder information, and other systems of records needed for quality control and reports. Establishes and maintains a diary system to ensure all required actions are completed in a timely manner.
- Resolves problems, which occur with coding of loans into Loan Production computer systems while protecting data from unauthorized release, loss, alteration, or deletion.
Promotion Potential: GS-11
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday (8:00AM - 4:30PM local time)
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Loan Specialist/Loan Assistant; GS-07 PD 37715A; GS-09 PD 37729A; GS-11 PD 37730A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
RequirementsHelp
Conditions of employmentAs a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a
1-year probationary period OR 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period
OR 2-year trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
- 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
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.
QualificationsIndividual Occupational Requirement (IOR): This position does have an IOR that must be met in addition to the Time-in-Grade and regular Specialized Experience qualifications. To qualify for this position, you must have the education or experience listed below:
- Experience that demonstrated competence in agricultural, commercial, realty, or other types of loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural, commercial, bank or mortgage loans; servicing a loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; performing financial analysis of commercial concerns for investment purposes; appraising real estate to determine property valuation; or similar work. OR
- Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study finance, business administration, economics, accounting, insurance, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, real estate operations, statistics, or other fields related to the position, such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock or ranch management, or rural sociology.
ANDTo qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:02/19/2026.
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.
- For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
- 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.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-07 Grade Level:Specialized Experience: In addition to the IOR, applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in federal or other service that equipped the applicant with the competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as experience conducting mortgage loan origination or servicing tasks, residential mortgage loan processing, OR experience with residential real estate sale transactions.
OR Education Substitution: Completion of one full year of graduate-level education with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA)*.
OR Combination: A combination of education and experience equaling 100% of the required specialized experience.
Superior Academic Achievement is based on the following:
- Class standing Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on completed courses.
- Grade-point average-Applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed bases on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final two years of the curriculum.
- Honor Society Membership-Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.
GS-9 Grade Level:Specialized Experience: In addition to the IOR, applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in federal or other service that equipped the applicant with the competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as experience underwriting loan applications and making eligibility determination for mortgage loans.
OREducation Substitution: You must have a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL. B or J.D., if related.
ORCombination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.
GS-11 Grade Level:Specialized Experience: In addition to the IOR, applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in federal or other service that equipped the applicant with the competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as experience auditing and performing quality review of mortgage loans, analyzing data from various programs to underwrite a variety of mortgage loans, and making eligibility determinations on a variety of loan types or grants.
OREducation Substitution: PH. D or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M, if related.
OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.
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: The work is mostly sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, folders, and files.
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/.
EducationEducation must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.
Additional informationUnder 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 (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.
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 telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
The
Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal//VA 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. 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/.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.
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.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.
To determine if you need a RA, please review theProcedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980686389652-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
BenefitsHelp
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
