Instructional Systems Specialist

The employee will serve as the Instructional Systems Specialist in the Quality, Training, and Risk Management Department, Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), Veterans Affair (VA). The VCL is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year service aimed at connecting callers worldwide to a caring, qualified Veterans Administration employee. The VCL's mission is to provide 24/7, world-class suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to Veterans, Service Members and their family members.

Major duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: Accomplishes broad and complex assignments associated with conceiving, developing, implementing, and evaluating VCL/PSOC training programs and curriculum for VCL external stakeholders. Applies principles of organizational development to help build the capacity to design and develop training programs and curriculum focused on improving employee knowledge and understanding of evidence-based and best practice crisis intervention skills and agency processes and protocols. Provides independent, critical reviews of entire courses or specific lessons, focusing especially on the inherent logic, completeness, and efficiency of teaching strategies and methodologies, finalizes changes with the course developer and submits them for final quality review in accordance with prescribed completion dates. Constructs/develops practical exercises and examinations to meet and measure the specified training objectives. Recommends course structural changes to provide the proper sequencing of objectives, adequate spacing of practice and reinforcement exercises, and an overall instructional design whose learning outcomes are logically consistent with the teaching purposes. Analyzes organizational performance problems, new requirements and taskings to employees that are, or may become training issues, and recommends appropriate actions. Develops and delivers presentations to executive leadership and department leads to introduce and seek approval of new or enhanced external training initiatives. Reviews job and task analyses; task inventories; job and target population data; course participant's feedback and recommendations; existing course materials to identify training shortfalls and redundancies. Determines appropriate strategies to correct problems identified and makes recommendations to senior leadership. Serves as a subject-matter authority in the methodologies of adult learning, Interactive Multimedia instruction, Instructional Systems Design, Criterion-Referenced instruction, Competency Based instruction, and/or Experiential Learning Model instruction in the area of providing specialized training, e.g., curriculum development, instructional media, multimedia delivery systems, and audiovisual training aids, training devices, programmed instruction, testing and outcomes measurement, etc.) Assists in developing training and education strategies and products for the VCL program. Conducts comprehensive literature reviews and performs professional research in order to identify innovative techniques and tools that will facilitate the tailoring of training content to meet the needs of the Veteran's Crisis Line, Peer Support Outreach Center, and its external stakeholders. Provides ongoing pedagogical training, guidance, and assistance to other subject-matter authorities who are analyzing, designing, and developing training programs and products. Performs other duties as assigned by management.

Work Schedule: Tour of Duty is typically Administrative Hours.

Compressed/Flexible: May be authorized upon supervisor approval after training per Agency policy.

Remote: This is remote position. Selectees will work 100% of the time in a non-VA-owned space outside of the local commuting area of a parent station. The employee's workspace must be suitable for conducting business and as such, remote employees are expected to provide a secure, distraction-free home-based worksite with reliable high speed internet connectivity. The employee will be required to travel to the closest VA Medical Center or VA Outpatient Clinic for issuance of equipment, and as needed for technical support. Selectees will be required to self-certify that their remote workplace meets all safety, privacy, and internet speed requirements.

Position Description/PD#: Instructional Systems Specialist/PD29297A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Required

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/06/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that cannot be waived. The 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 the GS-1750 occupational series, all applicants must possess the following:

Education: Degree which included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the work of the position to be filled. The course work must have included study in at least four (4) of the following five (5) areas:

• Learning theory, psychology of learning, educational psychology: Study of learning theories as they relate to the systematic design, development, and validation of instructional material.
• Instructional design practices: Study of the principles and techniques used in designing training programs, developing design strategy and models, and applying design methods to the improvement of instructional effectiveness.
• Educational evaluation: Study of the techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of instructional/educational programs, including developing written and performance tests and survey instruments, and determining reliability and validity of evaluation instruments.
• Instructional product development: Study of the techniques appropriate for developing training materials, including identifying learner characteristics, specifying objectives, applying training strategy, validating training materials, and evaluating training.
• Computers in education and training: Study of the application of computers in education and training, including selecting appropriate computer software.

GS-11 QUALIFICATION: In addition to meeting time in grade and the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), all applicants must also meet the following specialized experience and/or education in order to qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet 3/5 of the following examples of specialized experience:

• Providing independent, critical reviews of entire courses or specific lessons;
• Recommending course structural changes to provide the proper sequencing of objectives;
• Analyzing organizational performance problems related to training issues and making appropriate recommendations;
• Determining appropriate strategies to correct training course problems;
• Developing and delivering presentations to executive leadership and department leads.

OR Education: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

OR Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Requirements Analysis
• Planning and Evaluating
• Communications and Media

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 typically sedentary and is performed while sitting at a desk, in conferences, briefings, meetings, etc. There may be occasional visits to other staff offices to observe employees at work. Incumbent may occasionally be required to operate a motor vehicle. 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/.

Education

Transcript Reminder: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts must depict the name of the college to determine accreditation, and your name must also be displayed on the transcripts. If qualifying based on a degree, or for positions requiring a degree, the transcript must show the date the degree was conferred. If selected, you must provide official transcripts. Transcripts should state degree conferred and have a date. Copies of official transcripts are accepted and are the best way to ensure your education is interpreted correctly in accordance with OPM qualification standards. Unofficial transcripts are accepted if they contain all the required information. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Requirements

Conditions of employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.

Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

As 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.