Disability Adjudicator

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request special accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Information on accommodation for persons with disabilities

Please note that you will be asked to provide a cover letter detailing your skills and experience. It is NOT sufficient to only state that the qualifications are met or to provide a listing of current or past responsibilities. Rather you must clearly demonstrate HOW, WHEN, and WHERE the qualification was met through substantiation by examples. Information on your described skills, experience, etc. provided in the cover letter should be supported by your resume. Failure to provide the above information in the format required may result in your application being rejected from the process.

INSTRUCTIONS
When recording your examples, be sure you:
• Provide concrete, specific examples of actions that speak directly to the experience sought.
• Choose examples with sufficient complexity, impact and degree of difficulty that will allow you to illustrate to what extent and depth you have shown the behaviours expected for each qualification.
• Focus on what you did. In referring to an experience achieved in the context of a team, set your role apart from the role(s) of others.
• Please describe the achievements in the past tense. This will help to ensure that you are providing concrete examples, rather than making general statements (e.g.instead of saying “I work well within a team….” you can say “I worked well with a team when….”).
• Use action verbs when describing your experience i.e. lead, managed, organized, planned, prepared, informed, determined, etc.
• Provide all examples in sentence format.
• Each example must include when the example took place, background of each situation, what you did, how you did it, what your role was in the situation, and what was the outcome.

All information must be provided through the “apply online” application process. Do not fax, mail, email or drop-off a hard copy application as these will not be accepted. To apply in an alternate format due to disability, you must contact the email address indicated in the "Contact information" section below PRIOR to the Closing Date.

Duties

Disability Adjudicators are decision-makers who specialize in the adjudication of disability applications for benefits for eligible Veterans Affairs Canada clients. These clients include Veterans, Canadian Forces (CF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members, civilians, and other eligible persons (e.g. dependents) for death and/or disability related to war, peacekeeping or peacetime service.

Disability benefits are financial payments provided to our clients who have demonstrated that they have a permanent service related disability.

As a Disability Adjudicator, you will be responsible researching, analyzing, assessing and evaluating medical and legal information, including legislation, policies, guidelines, and regulations, to render entitlement and assessment decisions related to disability benefits offered through VAC. The result of this review and your decision is a letter to the client detailing the outcome and the various considerations that went into making the decision.

An assessment of the disability or condition is required for favourable decisions. This assessment is made based on how this service-related disability or condition impacts the client’s overall physical or mental functioning and their quality of their life. As a decision-maker, you can consult various medical tools and resources to make this assessment decision. Your assessment decision will be communicated to the client as part of a written assessment decision.

For further information relate to this position and the Disability Benefits program, I recommend that prospective candidates review the following link:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/after-injury/disability-benefits.

Work environment

Are you a nurse looking to gain new experiences working in a stimulating and client service focused environment? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use your Nursing degree and experience in an office based environment?

Whether you have recently graduated, or are a nurse with many years of experience, this opportunity offers you a dynamic work environment to expand your skills and experience while helping to serve our worthy clientèle. At Veterans Affairs Canada, our mission is to provide exemplary, client-centred services and benefits that respond to the needs of Veterans, our other clients and their families, in recognition of their services to Canada; and to keep the memory of their achievements and sacrifices alive for all Canadians. As a Disability Adjudicator, you are an integral part of helping to achieve this goal.

Veterans Affairs Canada will allow you to enhance your nursing skills while managing a healthy work-life balance. We encourage the achievement of a healthy balance in the working and personal lives of employees, believing that this contributes to the vitality of individuals, our organization and our communities. We offer flexible daytime hours, an office/team environment with other health professionals or staff and professional development which will allow you to continue developing your nursing skills through ongoing training and support from a dynamic team structure.

Intent of the process

The intent of this process is to establish a pool of qualified candidates which could be used to staff similar or identical positions with various tenures, various language requirements, and/or various security clearance levels.

Positions to be filled: 7

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 8,000 words (maximum) "Your cover letter will be used as a source to assess your Ability to Communicate in Writing. Therefore, it is recommended that you provide sufficient detail to allow the assessor to adequately assess this ability."

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Education (Occupation Certification):
• ED 1 – Eligibility for Registration as a registered nurse in a province or territory of Canada.

Degree equivalency

Experience:
• EX 1 – Experience in the provision or delivery of health services* or any other experience relevant to the position.

* Health Services is defined as a medical treatment or care to the public or to a particular group.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
• English Essential
• French Essential
• Bilingual Imperative, CBC/CBC

Information on language requirements

Second Language Writing Skills Self-Assessment
In order to help you decide if you should apply to a bilingual position, an optional self-assessment of your writing skills in your second official language is available for you to take before completing your application.

For more information, please consult:
Unsupervised Internet Test of Second Language Writing Skills

Abilities:
• AB 1 – Ability to communicate effectively in writing.
• AB 2 – Ability to communicate effectively orally.
• AB 3 – Ability to identify critical issues, apply relevant legislation, regulations and policies and prepare a written decision.

Personal Suitabilities:
• PS 1 – Judgment
• PS 2 – Initiative
• PS 3 – Interpersonal Relationships

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Assets:
• AE 1 – Experience as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
• AE 2 – Experience in adjudicating disability benefits or other services for government programs.

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

Conditions of employment

• Reliability Status security clearance
• A willingness and ability to work occasional overtime.
• A willingness to work shiftwork.

These are requirements that must be met or complied with before being appointed and must be maintained throughout your employment in the position.

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the targeted groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

It is your responsibility to ensure that your email and contact information are maintained with the hiring board. All communication for this process will be sent by email and it is your responsibility to verify your messages regularly.

Education and/or Experience factors in the asset qualifications may be used for screening. Applicants should clearly demonstrate on their application if they meet any of the education and/or experience asset qualifications. Failure to do so may result in the rejection of your application.

One or more asset qualifications may be used during the screening to manage the volume of applications.

Candidates will be asked to provide proof of their education credentials and proof of citizenship at a later date.

An interview and/or written exam may be administered.

Reference checks will be sought. The Assessment Committee reserves the right to contact references other than those provided by the candidates (within the Public Service only) in order to adequately assess the candidates.

Indeterminate employees at the same group and level or equivalent may be considered for assignment, deployment or secondment opportunities before other candidates.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.