Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:
United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
Education-Documentation Submitted.
- Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). HR office staff and management officials may verify a program's accreditation from ACAE at acaeaccred.org and CAA at caa.asha.org. OR
- Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Note: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AUD programs in audiology.
Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
Licensure-Documentation Submitted. Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and licensure, where applicable.
Audiologist (Clinical Specialist), GS-13. Grade Determinations:
Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the following KSAs are required:
- Advanced knowledge in a focused area of contemporary audiology practice to provide oversight of a specialty program.
- Skill to evaluate the specialty program to ensure deadlines and goals are met.
- Skill to coordinate initiatives and build consensus among interdisciplinary team members.
- Ability to monitor and report on work progress in the specialty program to adjust workload and processes.
- Ability to serve as the SME and provide education relating to the specialty program.
Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity, and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Audiologists (Clinical Specialists) provide leadership and direct oversight in the design, development, implementation, planning, and management of the specialty program. They serve as coaches or facilitators for the interdisciplinary team and are responsible for training all support staff and trainees as it relates to the specialty program. These individuals serve as the SME in matters regarding the specialty program.
Preferred Experience: Knowledge and experience with Progressive Tinnitus Management. Leadership skills and experience managing and working with a team of professionals.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.
Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary. The work requires walking, standing, bending, an carrying light items such as books, papers, files, and intermittent moderate physical activity such as pushing, pulling, and carrying not more than 45 pounds of weight. There is daily use of a computer.