Insurance Specialist
Share
Job Location:
Philadelphia, PA - USA
Yearly Salary:
$ 55602 - 72285
Posted on:
Yesterday
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Summary
As an Insurance Specialist you will have telephone contacts with the public for the purposes of (1) advising and providing information on insurance programs; (2) explaining pertinent legal provisions regulations and related administrative practices and their application to specific cases; and (3) assisting individuals regarding how best to provide needed documents and evidence required or to initiate inquiries to resolve errors delays or other problems related to the VA Insurance program.
- Fields telephone calls pertaining to a wide range of issues. On occasion these matters involve other VA and Federal benefits.
- Researches and interprets regulations governing life insurance policies in order to reply to inquiries from policyholders on the VA administered insurance programs.
- Responds to inquiries varying in complexity and counsels callers on topics including but not limited to dividends premiums non-medical and medical underwriting issues matured endowments cash surrenders loans death claim processing and tax issues relating to the insurance programs.
- Advises policyholders and beneficiaries with estimates and compares benefits of the various options that are available relating to conversions changes of plan matured endowment cash surrenders death award payments and dividend options etc.
- Computes reserves differences in reserve surrender and loan values and determines effective date of changes.
- Prepares detailed statement of account and conducts extensive audits of individual policies.
- Responds to inquiries in relation to Servicemembers/Veterans Group Life Insurance (SGLI/VGLI) and Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife) which are supervised by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Takes all servicing and maintenance actions in responding to requests or inquiries from policyholders or their authorized representatives including posting premiums loan and dividend payments and refunds.
- Performs post entitlement actions including release of Treasury Form 712 and release of correspondence to claimants Veterans Service Officers and attorneys and third parties concerning general inquiries about payment of the proceeds.
- Processes beneficiary designations requests releases copies of beneficiary designations on file and provides copies of the policy.
Conditions of employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
- Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
- Selective Service registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- 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.
- 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.
Qualifications
Applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Time-In-Grade (TIG) Requirement
Time-in-grade (TIG) requirements apply to applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks current Federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) appointment and former Federal employees applying for reinstatement. Applicants who must meet TIG must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action Standard Form 50 (SF-50):
- Official SF-50 that shows you held the grade (or higher) for the full performance level of the position you are applying for or
- Official SF-50 that shows you held the next lower grade for at least one year for the position you are applying for. (Multiple SF-50 may need to be submitted to show this.)
- Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or
- Promotions with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the job opportunity announcement; or
- SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than 1 year from the closing date of the job opportunity announcement.
For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
Specialized Experience
To qualify applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:
- (1) Experience that may have been gained in technical assignments that involved the application of laws rules regulations or procedures involving a benefit or entitlement program.
- (2) Responsibility for examination investigation or authorization of claims under programs such as life or health insurance pension plan disability retirement income maintenance or other related programs.
Applicants may substitute education for the experience required to qualify at the GS-7 level:
Undergraduate Degree and Superior Academic Achievement. You have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in any field leading to an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university or you possess an undergraduate degree in any field from an accredited college or university AND you meet one of the following Superior
Academic Achievement provisions:
a. Ranked in the upper 1/3 of your college class or major subdivision at the time you apply;
b. Earned election to a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies other than freshman honor societies; OR
c. Earned a grade point average (GPA) of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses or all undergraduate classes completed during the final two years; or earned a GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses in your major or all undergraduate courses in your major completed during the final two years.
Regarding the Superior Academic Achievement provisions if more than 10% of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis you can qualify only on the basis of your class standing or membership in an honor society. If you qualify based on your education you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.
OR
Graduate Education. You must have at least one full academic year of graduate level education that demonstrates you possess the knowledge skills and abilities necessary to satisfactorily perform the work. One year of full-time graduate education is normally determined by the school you attended. If that number cannot be determined 18 semester hours should be considered equivalent to one academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable on a pro-rated basis. If you qualify based on your education you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.
OR
Applicants can combine education and specialized experience to qualify for the position. If you have some but not all of the graduate education AND specialized experience described above you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To do so first calculate the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of the education required. Next calculate the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of the experience required. Then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the GS-7 grade level. For example an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of acceptable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the experience required) would satisfy the qualification requirements for the position. If you qualify based on a combination of graduate education and specialized experience you must submit a copy of your official college transcript with your application.
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.
The Office of Personnel Managements group coverage qualification standards associated individual occupational requirements (IOR) and individual qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found here
Education
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
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. 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.
Additional information
Work Schedule: Full time Monday through Friday
Title/PD#: Insurance Specialist GS-7; PD 03735A
Flexible: Available (8:00am-4:30pm 8:30am-5:00pm and 9:00am-5:30pm)
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory qualification and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers books small parts; driving an automobile etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.
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. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u) Schedule A appointment of persons with disabilities i.e. intellectual disabilities severe physical disabilities or psychiatric disabilities and/or disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Please contact the special placement coordinator or the human resources specialist listed on this vacancy for more information regarding applying for consideration under schedule A or as a 30% disabled Veteran.
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 and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. A well-qualified candidate is defined as meeting all of the minimum qualification standards and eligibility requirements as well as possessing skills that clearly exceed the minimum qualifications requirements for this position. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility can be found here.
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.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
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.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations Security and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) 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.
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.
Required Experience:
IC
Key Skills
- Sales Experience
- Time Management
- Marketing
- Customer Service
- Communication skills
- Retail Sales
- Business Management
- Outside Sales
- Telemarketing
- Insurance Sales
- Medicare
- Phone Etiquette
