To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/13/2026. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 as described below: To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria: Criteria 1 - Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher (copy of unofficial transcript required) and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. NOTE: You must still meet the Time-In-Grade requirement of having served 52 weeks at the GS-11 grade level, and a copy of your unofficial transcript is required. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Researching, analyzing, and applying knowledge of laws, regulations, and rules to provide guidance and resolution on issues related to employee benefits (health and life insurance, vision, dental insurance, retirement, and Flexible Spending Accounts); Meeting with employees to explain benefit programs, and training employees and supervisors regarding the latest information on all federal benefits; Preparing communications on current and future requirements related to employee benefits, and responding to benefit inquiries from attorneys and courts on divorce cases and other civil matters; Experience utilizing office automation equipment and a variety of software applications to successfully process employee leave requests for special leave programs, to include: HR Smart, USA Staffing onboarding, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook; Conducting research on HR regulations and other pertinent directives for the improvement of federal work-life regulations, policies, and procedures. ~OR~ Criteria 2 - Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Administering a federal work life/employee benefits program to include federal leave programs, employee group life insurance, health benefits, Thrift Savings Plan, and other Work-life programs; Serving as a Work Life Benefits subject matter expert (SME) advising employees, applicants for employment, supervisors, and members of management regarding laws, regulations and procedures for Work Life Benefits; Developing and conducting training to increase employee awareness regarding the latest information on Federal Benefits and Worklife Benefit Programs; Reviewing and analyzing data and regulations and identifying trends to develop operating procedures or processes; Performing quality control reviews on various benefits processed documents to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable regulations, and resolving more complex and unusual problems and providing technical advice. 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/.