Cemetery Administrator

This position has 9 vacancies in the following locations: Phoenix, AZ Dixon, CA Denver, CO Holly, MI Newtown, PA Chattanooga, TN Dallas, TX Quantico, VA Kent, WA Location and pay will be determined upon selection. This position requires extensive background and knowledge in interment operations, grounds maintenance, financial management, personnel management, public relations, contract oversight and operation of a National Cemetery.

Major duties
As the Cemetery Administrator, the incumbent is the independent station head responsible for developing and implementing local administrative, financial, human capital, and other resource management policies. The Cemetery Administrator directs the overall day-to-day operation of the cemetery to include overseeing the interment schedule, preparation and closing of all graves, placement of temporary and permanent markers, and maintenance of all gravesites, roads, grounds, and landscape. Responsible for administrative operations of the cemetery to include verifying complex eligibility issues prior to interment and arranging for committal services, maintaining all property accounts, time and leave records, records management, and the preparation of recurring and special reports. The incumbent establishes performance standards, evaluates the performance of employees, and carries out Equal Employment Opportunity policies and program activities. Personally, develops studies and analyses of cemetery operations to determine personnel requirements; to make modifications and improvements needed for more effective operations; and to define trends in utilization of burial benefits. Prepares, submits, and defends budgetary requirements and maintains all related reports and records to ensure all submissions and expenditures are substantiated by full and complete justification. The Administrator executes the approved annual financial plan for the cemetery. The Cemetery Administrator develops statements of work and controls over work, inspects work, authorizes payment, and is ultimately responsible for those contracts initiated by the cemetery for work associated with the administration of the national cemetery. The Cemetery Administrator will be actively engaged in conducting community outreach activities to promote the cemetery and raise Veterans' awareness of VA burial benefits. ___ YOU MUST SIGN A MOBILITY AGREEMENT INDICATING THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE NECESSITY FOR AND AGREE TO ACCEPT ASSIGNMENTS AT VARIOUS INSTALLATIONS DURING EMPLOYMENT. Selected candidates, from outside the National Cemetery Adminstration, must coordinate with management to develop a competency-based training plan within 30 days of hire, with completion required within one year. Work schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. May include occasional weekends. Due to the mission of the National Cemetery, the cemetery cannot be closed for more than 2 consecutive days at any given time. Additionally, when a Federal holiday falls on a Monday or Friday, staff may be required to work on that holiday or a Saturday. All staff is required to work Memorial Day and Veteran's Day each year. Staff will be required to work overtime, weekends and holidays when necessary to meet the needs of the cemetery. Occasionally staff may be called back to the facility to perform emergency overtime work. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available Telework: Not Available Remote/Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position. Position Description Title/PD#: Cemetery Administrator/PD1744169, PD1740903, PD1740744, PD1740919, PD1744110, PD1740908, PD1740997, and PD1740999 The full performance level of this position is GS – 15. At the level GS-14, you will perform similar duties but under closer supervision. 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. Relocation Expenses: May be Authorized The Department of Veterans Affairs offers Permanent Change of Station (PCS) relocation services. Permanent Change of Station is the relocation of a household due to government convenience in connection with a transfer between duty stations or facilities. For more information go to http://vaww.fscdirect.fsc.va.gov/pcs.aspRelo. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Required If interested in applying for this position you may preview the online application: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13058222

Qualifications
To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2026. You may be required to serve a supervisory probationary period. 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 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. For a GS-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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 your most recent non-award 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 non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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, as described below: GS-14 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to experience supervising, leading, influencing, motivating, and challenging others; performing the full scope of supervisory duties; preparing, justifying managing, administering, and executing a budget for a program or organization; monitoring expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs; establishing short or long term goals for a program, project, or initiative; planning, coordinating, and executing business functions and resource allocations; overseeing procurement and contract activities for a program or organization; serving as a contract officer representative; promoting the services and products of an organization; engaging in speaking events; and preparing or delivering oral presentation. GS-15 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to experience supervising, leading, influencing, motivating, and challenging others; performing the full scope of supervisory duties; preparing, justifying managing, administering, and executing a budget for a program or organization; monitoring expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs; establishing short or long term goals for a program, project, or initiative; planning, coordinating, and executing business functions and resource allocations; overseeing procurement and contract activities for a program or organization; serving as a contract officer representative; promoting the services and products of an organization; engaging in speaking events; and preparing or delivering oral presentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict Management Manages Resources Planning and Evaluating Partnering Influencing/Negotiating Leadership Financial Management Contracting Procurement Administration and Management Communication 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: This position requires walking and standing including significant periods of outdoor duty to perform tasks such as attending services and inspection sections of the cemetery (including sections which are active interment areas or sections under construction). The position requires bending, stooping, and lifting cemetery records, manuals, cremains containers, and other small items. The position requires assisting with the moving of caskets placed on wheeled biers in and out of committal shelters. The work is primarily administrative within facilities that are adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated, but includes exposures to outside elements such as heat and cold as well as wet, humid, or arid conditions. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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.

How to apply
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click. (Remove the application preview verbiage and function) The application process is as follows: 1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 10/13/2026. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: – Prioritize most relevant and recent experience – Use concise, results focused language – Align language from the job announcement – Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies – Remove outdated or unrelated experience – Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: – https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit – https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-planresources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit