Pharmacy Supervisor

Clarification from the agency

This is an INTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENT and is limited to current permanent employees of the Iowa City VA Health Care System and current permanent VA Nationwide employees. If you are not in any of these categories, you should apply under the external announcement number CBSY-13050116-26-MI NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

This position supervises, supports, and evaluates the CITC outpatient pharmacists, coordinates staff assignments and workload, ensures appropriate staff coverage during all operational hours, and ensures that pharmacy services are provided in an efficient, safe, and patient-centric manner. The supervisor effectively organizes workload, plans short and long-range objectives, solves problems, monitors workflow and performance metrics, and continuously evaluates systems and processes to improve patient safety. The supervisor collaborates with other pharmacy leaders and serves as a liaison between pharmacy and other departments. The supervisor may represent outpatient pharmacy or pharmacy service on boards, councils and committees as assigned. Daily routine operations include oversight of outpatient prescription processing, providing drug information to other health care disciplines, and coordinating the community care prescription process. Additional operations include utilizing various equipment and software systems to facilitate efficient operations, and providing training and mentorship to new employees, pharmacy residents, and pharmacy students. The supervisor may contribute to quality assurance and improvement activities, and works in conjunction with the Associate Chief of Outpatient Operations to maintain optimal pharmacy operations.

FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES:

• Maintains competence in all operational aspects of outpatient pharmacy service, including all electronic medical record software, automation, dispensing and shipping services, documentation, controlled substance accountability, and Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) procedures.
• Ensure workload is completed in a timely manner and prioritize tasks both personally and pharmacy wide to provide the most efficient and timely delivery service. Effectively communicate these priorities to pharmacy staff. Ensure accurate and timely processing of prescriptions to meet patient care needs.
• Enforce national and local formulary decisions in accordance with VA guidelines and clinical judgement. Assist providers in navigating this process and recommend formulary alternatives when appropriate.

Clinical

• Applies expert level proficiency in clinical pharmacy.
• Assesses appropriateness of clinical decisions based on available data and evidence, and uses clinical judgement to guide clinical pharmacists when necessary.
• Effectively prioritizes patient care activities based on patient need and resources available.
• Effectively communicates with other professionals using professional terminology and with patients using language appropriate for the assessed level of understanding.
• Demonstrate skill at using both written and verbal communication techniques in teaching others.

Leadership

• Provides direct supervision to a team of outpatient clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
• Conducts performance evaluations, set performance standards, and provides ongoing feedback, coaching, and professional development.
• Identifies training needs and implements new employee training plans and staff development initiatives to ensure high competency levels and professional growth.
• Participates in strategic planning and assessment for pharmacy services.

Education and Research

• Maintain own professional competency by keeping abreast of information on new medications, current pharmacotherapy guidelines, innovations in pharmacy practice, and integrating this information into practice.
• Completes, in a timely fashion, all VA-mandated educational and training programs for pharmacy staff to help meet departmental and health system-wide goals and objectives.
• Serve as preceptor for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents in accordance with established procedures.
• Develop and provide pharmaceutical education and expertise as needed for committees such as P&T; and for providers, pharmacy, nursing, and all other departments, as well as patients and families.

Drug Information

• Serve as an authority on medication use, pharmacotherapy, interactions, overdoses, and compliance, to medical staff, nursing staff, technicians, and students. Use appropriate references to research drug information.
• Demonstrate a good working knowledge of information resources, both written and electronic, as well as a solid grasp of the principles of literature evaluation and biostatistics.

Program Management

• Serve on medical center and/or VISN committees as requested.
• Adhere to all medical center and department policies and procedures.
• Participates in the development, execution, and documentation of cost containment initiatives.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

All requirements must be met at the time of the announcement closing.

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d)
• Education:
  • Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
  • Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT)
• Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia.
  • Exception. Non-licensed pharmacists who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment at the entry level as a Graduate Pharmacist under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2)(B). The appointing official may waive the requirement of licensure for a period not to exceed 2 years for a pharmacist that provides care under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. For grade levels above the GS-11, the candidate must be licensed.

NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. § 7402(f)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration or certification.

1. Failure to Obtain License. In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unlicensed pharmacist with the written requirement to obtain licensure, the date by which the license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming licensed by the deadline. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment.

• Grandfathering Provision. All licensed pharmacists employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations:

GS-13 Pharmacy Supervisor

• Experience: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-12. The GS-12 requirements include:
  • Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice.
  • Communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff.
  • Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security.
  • Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. AND
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • Ability to effectively supervise subordinate staff.
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
  • Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards pertaining to pharmacy.
  • Skill in managing people or programs.

Creditable Experience:
(1) Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board.
(2) Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for- year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination).
(3) Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination.
(4) Part-time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional pharmacist is credited according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a pharmacist employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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 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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

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.

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

• License
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.


The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• **Highly Recommended** Write to the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) on a separate document - KSAs are found under qualification/grade requirements in the announcement.
• Resume/CV exceeding two-pages
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent VA Nationwide employees.

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