Clarification from the agency

Announcement is open to current Federal Employees and the Public. Federal employees must provide SF50 to receive applicable eligibility. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Clinical Practice:
1) The incumbent has responsibility for providing pharmaceutical care to optimize patient response and resource utilization. The clinical practice will encompass 25 - 50% of the supervisor's time.

• Directly involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned practice areas.
• Actively involved in reviewing patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicates findings with other providers and presents appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed.
• Independently initiates, modifies, or discontinues medication therapy for items other than controlled substances under a scope of practice. Provides patient specific drug therapy modifications to maximize patient response and minimize drug interactions, adverse drug effects, and polypharmacy while providing cost effective treatment.
• Orders, performs, reviews, and analyzes appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy. Follows-up with patients on lab or test results to discuss the plan of therapy.
• Performs physical assessment of patients as appropriate.
• Obtains medication histories from patients and summarizes significant findings in the medical record and/or to other providers as appropriate.

2) Serves as a dedicated member of local, VISN and/or national committees, being a positive representative of the CMC VAMC Pharmacy Service. Accepts assignments for ad hoc committees, teams and workgroups to assist the facility.
3) Plays a role in budgetary execution by working with local clinical staff, as well as national and VISN counterparts to monitor drug use for compliance with formulary, criteria for drug use and treatment guidelines, with respect to cost-effective use of available agents. Adjudicates prior authorization drug consults in timely manner. Recommends local and system-wide interventions as necessary to assure efficient usage of resources.
4) Maintains competencies and skills necessary to work in outpatient or inpatient Pharmacy operational areas if/when the needs of the organization require assistance.
5) Demonstrates ownership of and possesses expert knowledge in their assigned clinical practice area(s).
6) Other clinical function(s) specific to assigned practice area(s).

Administrative:
1) Develops, establishes, and maintains written policies and procedures defining operational requirements.
2) Supervises the implementation of clinical pharmacy programs, including operational, educational, and research activities.
3) Actively participates in human resources opportunities, such as interviews for potential employee candidates, screening and recommends appointments, advancement and all promotions or disciplinary action to the Chief, Pharmacy Service or Associate Chief, Clinical Pharmacy Programs and the Pharmacy Professional Standards Board or Human Resources as appropriate.

Supervisory:
1) Provides first level supervision to pharmacists, technicians, trainees, and other staff assigned to clinical pharmacy program areas.
2) Establishes work schedules and allocates staff as needed to provide adequate coverage. Maintains time and attendance records and approves leave according to facility policy.
3) Assesses workload shifts, identifying backlogs and makes staffing adjustments as needed to meet organizational goals.
4) Directs and inspects work of subordinates for accuracy and timeliness.
5) Supervises, orients, and trains employees, residents, and students to ensure both an acceptable quality and quantity of work.

Program Management:
1) Coordinates a single program area of a complex pharmacy operation, or multiple program areas within a facility to develop, organize, manage, and control complex pharmacy programs.
2) Assists in the operations of the other areas of the Pharmacy Service including distribution and clinical work in other areas (e.g., medication order review and verification, relief help in other clinics or in the pharmacies as needed).
3) Assists in planning and implementing of Pharmacy quality assurance activities.
4) Assures overall levels of clinical pharmacy services are maintained at a quality consistent with current and accepted VHA healthcare delivery standards.
5) Coordinates a process to assure appropriate workload capture and billing for clinical pharmacy services where applicable.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• 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

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. 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. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16..
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Pharmacy Supervisor, GS-13

• Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Responsible for the professional and administrative management of an assigned area in pharmacy service, to include budgetary execution. Such individuals have responsibilities for supervising multiple pharmacists and technicians. Manages people, maintains effective interdepartmental relations, and cooperates with other services to accomplish the medical facility's mission and goals. Develops performance standards, assures that the program area is compliant with all regulatory and accrediting body requirements, designs and implements orientation and training programs for staff, and develops and maintains systems to monitor the performance of staff activities. Develops policies and procedures relative to their assigned area. 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.
• Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

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-13.

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:

• Resume

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 (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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 Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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