Summary

In this role, you will help the Department of Veterans Affairs promote accountability by investigating allegations of misconduct, retaliation, and poor performance involving senior leaders, as well as whistleblower retaliation by VA supervisors. You will conduct investigations and provide findings and recommendations for disciplinary, non-disciplinary, and corrective actions. You will work in the Investigations Division and report to division leadership.

This job is open to

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Federal employees - Competitive service

Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales.

Federal employees - Excepted service

Current federal employees whose agencies have their own hiring rules, pay scales and evaluation criteria.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Land and base management

Current or former employees of a base management agency.

Veterans

Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference

Military spouses

Military spouses of active duty service members or whose spouse is 100 percent disabled or died on active duty.

Individuals with disabilities

Individuals who are eligible under Schedule A.

Family of overseas employees

Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas.

Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista

Individuals who have served at least 2 years with the Peace Corps or 1 year with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Special authorities

Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed in another hiring path.

Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent Federal employees and other status eligible applicants. See the eligibility section in the questionnaire for a list of all eligible statuses and the How You Will Be Evaluated section below for more details.

Duties

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Serve as the first line supervisor and manage the day-to-day operations of a staff of investigators in the conduct of administrative investigations and related activities. The incumbent supervises the case management and technical advice on matters referred to OAWP for investigation. The incumbent develops general investigative strategies and tactics to resolve complex investigative issues. The incumbent will from time-to-time investigate matters related to conduct, performance, attendance, whistleblower disclosure and retaliation. The incumbent will provide various functions for accomplishment of OAWP's primary mission, including but not limited to the following:

• Investigates allegations of misconduct, retaliation, or poor performance involving individuals in a senior executive position, individuals employed in a confidential, policy- making, policy-determining, or policy-advocating position in the Department, or a supervisory employee, if the allegation involves retaliation against an employee for making a whistleblower disclosure.
• Receives referred disclosures from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Medical Inspector of the Department, the Inspector General of the Department, or such other person with investigatory authority, OAWP Triage, and conducts investigation as appropriate.
• Responsible for personally conducting high priority/sensitive fact finding or investigations that require the exercise of tact, diplomacy, utilization of extensive experience, and various human resource skills as directed by the Director and provides overall guidance and technical oversight of cases.
• Makes recommendations in relation to the assignment, evaluation, and approval of the Director's investigative plan encompassing all aspects of the investigative process including appropriate investigative techniques and procedures and coordinates for collaborative expertise effort. Develops, reviews, approves, coordinates and distributes detailed reports as appropriate. May be required to participate in individual and/or group interviews to gather information and data.
• Performs the full range of supervisory functions for a staff of investigators to include directly supervising, developing performance plans, and rating the performance of their assigned staff. Assigns work based on priorities, difficulty of assignments, workload, and the capabilities of the employees. Provides leadership, mentorship, training, and administrative oversight. Identifies developmental and training needs of employees, provides and/or arranges for needed developmental training.
• Provides, as needed, presentations, briefings, case updates, and/or reports to the Director and Senior OAWP leadership.
• Maintains lines of communication between field personnel and the Director. Prepares written communication on behalf of the Director in relation to operational procedures; maintains a training program, conduct of investigative procedures and techniques. Assists in the oversight of the overall integrity of the data input into OAWP's electronic official system of records and helps ensure that the entries are accurate and timely reported.
• Responsible for the development and/or editing of written reports, setting forth all facts and circumstances, with a view towards substantially affecting Investigations program planning; and organizational improvements.
• Advises/briefs the Director on highly complex and sensitive investigations. Communicates changes to subordinate staff. Ensures division employees readily adapt to changes and guidance is proliferated through conduct of investigations.
• Responsible for maintaining and monitoring the case management system in SharePoint or similar case management systems for receipt and accountability of information regarding alleged misconduct or impropriety by senior leaders.
• Coordinates cases as needed with internal staff and Administrations and external offices such as Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Merit Systems Protection Boards (MSPB), Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and others as requested.
• Administers the proper opening and closing of administrative investigations. Ensures that sufficient information exists to warrant opening the investigative file.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday with various tours available pending supervisory approval. May be subjected to change based on operational needs. Compressed/Flexible: May be authorized by supervisor. Remote: Yes Position Description/PD#: 99008A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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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.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• 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 may be required to serve a one year probationary period or two 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 one year probationary period or two year trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2026. 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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: 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:

• Oversight of case management and provision of technical guidance on complex investigations involving senior leader misconduct and/or whistleblower retaliation;
• Application of general investigative standards and principles to resolve sensitive and multifaceted issues;
• Leadership in planning, prioritizing, and conducting investigative work to meet mission-critical deadlines under tight time constraints;
• Drafting clear, logical, and analytically sound written reports of investigation and correspondence;
• Conducting reviews of investigative reports and providing constructive feedback to enhance quality and consistency of work products; maintenance of strict confidentiality; briefing senior leadership on high-impact cases;
• Establishment and maintenance of professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support investigative objectives.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

• At least five years of experience leading and supervising administrative investigative teams focused on high profile, complex, senior leader misconduct and whistleblower retaliation cases, to include among other duties case management, assignments, prioritizing of cases, and writing and revision of well-reasoned, factually sound and evidence-based reports of investigation;
• A track record of meeting or beating deadlines without compromising investigative integrity, and consistently using performance metrics to drive continuous investigation improvement;
• At least three years of supervisory experience conducting personnel actions, including holding employees accountable to performance standards;
• Experience coordinating investigations with investigative attorneys;
• Substantive experience driving procedural, technological, and cultural team or organizational change; significant experience using e-discovery tools such as Relativity;
• Ability to coordinate across internal departments, external agencies, and key stakeholders to foster communication and advance organizational goals;
• Use of data analytics to track case progression, case management, and data accuracy and integrity;
• Exceptional ability to prioritize competing deadlines, utilize tracking systems, and consistently meet or exceed milestones.

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. 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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list the grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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: Work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. Travel may be required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration (HRA) at The Fair Chance Act. 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. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Candidates 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.

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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.

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Review our 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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Performance Management
• Planning and Evaluating
• Reasoning
• Technical Competence
• Written Communication

Supervisory Situational Judgement Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment, decision-making, and leadership competencies associated with effective supervision in a Federal work environment. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be contacted for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

Area of Consideration: Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) eligible applicants
• All current, permanent VA Employees in the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection
• All other current, permanent VA employees
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) eligible applicants.
• All other applicants

During the application process, you will have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Required Documents

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To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

*FOR CURRENT OR FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Please view the 'Current and Former Federal Employees: Validating Time-in-Grade and Eligibility' section below to ensure you are submitting the proper SF-50/s Notification of Personnel Actions. The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

Failure to submit any of the above required documents applicable to your submission may result in loss of consideration and a rating of ineligible due to an incomplete application package. It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that their application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. We will not contact applicants for additional documentation, nor will we accept late or missing documents after the close of the announcement. Current and Former Federal Employees: Validating Time-in-Grade and Eligibility Required document to demonstrate eligibility:

• Most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which for current employees, must be effective the first pay period (01/11/2026 or later) of the current calendar year. The SF-50 should note your current position or most recently held position, tenure, type of position occupied (i.e., Excepted or Competitive), grade level and duty location. (Text version SF-50s or Request for Personnel Action SF-52s are not acceptable.) Non-GS employees (including Federal Wage System and pay band employees) who do not receive annual pay adjustments in January, must submit a SF-50 dated within one year of the closing date of this announcement.

Required document/s to demonstrate Time-in-Grade (TIG): TIG requirements apply to applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks, some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, and current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Applicants who must meet TIG, in addition to their most recent SF-50, must submit:

• Official SF-50 that shows you hold or held the grade (or a higher grade) for the position you are applying for, or
• Official SF-50/s that show you held the next lower grade for at least one year for the position you are applying for. (Multiple SF-50s may need to be submitted to show this.)

Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include (in addition to your most recent SF-50) to meet TIG requirements include: - Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or - Promotions to the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the JOA; or - SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than 1 year from the closing date of the JOA. NOTE: Do not submit Award SF-50s (or other SF-50s that do not provide sufficient information to verify time-in-grade.) Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled Veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx. IF APPLYING AS A CTAP/ICTAP ELIGIBLE: You must submit the following documentation demonstrating eligibility for CTAP/ICTAP:

• Resume
• Agency Reduction in Force notice;
• Most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location
• Most recent performance appraisal (must be fully successful or above)

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

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Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as 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. 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, 11/03/2026.

Assessment Update Policy: Please be advised that once your application is submitted, the assessment responses cannot be revised or updated. The numerical rating (score) from your initial submission will be final and used for all rating purposes. You may, however, update your eligibility information and submit additional supporting documents (e.g., SF-50s) for this vacancy after your initial submission but before the closing date of the announcement. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is 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 and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

Agency contact information

Robert Collett Phone 602-903-9699 Email [email protected] Address Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20420 US

Next steps

To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status (if applicable), and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required assessments and documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued, and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

Must be a U.S. citizen; one year of specialized experience at GS-13 level; ability to supervise investigative teams; background/security investigation; selective service registration for males; probationary period may be required.

Key Responsibilities

• supervising investigators
• conducting investigations
• preparing reports

Skills & Tools

SharePoint, Relativity

Job Details

• Category: Legal and Compliance
• Seniority: Senior Level
• Commitment: Full Time
• Workplace: Remote — Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)
• Salary: USD 125,776 – 197,200 / year
• Languages: English

Benefits

• 401k matching
• Generous paid time off
• Retirement plan

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