Duties
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
The employee will assist the pharmacist in providing optimal care and timely service in accordance with the mission, vision, and goals of the EPVHCS and Pharmacy. The incumbent is expected to accomplish all duties related to stocking, delivering, inventory, inspections, assembling ward orders, prescription assembly, controlled substances distribution, hazardous drugs, unit-dose drug packaging, dispensing, distribution, blister packaging nursing home medications, and any other function related to pharmaceutical practices. The incumbent performs all duties under the supervision and is expected to acquire and maintain a high degree of accurate productivity and performance.
- Accurately interprets, fills, and prepares prescriptions with appropriate medications and or medical supplies for pharmacist verification.
- Maintains work areas in a clean and orderly condition by assuring that all stock and equipment are in assigned places and all shelves and counters are free of dust and debris to create optional work areas.
- Assures drugs and supplies are appropriately stored and secured according to USP and VA guidelines, including the storage of high-risk medications, look- alike and sound-alike medications, hazardous drugs, controlled substances, corrosive chemical, flammable liquids, and refrigerated items.
- Receives, checks, rotates, and places in stock all items received from pharmacy procurement section and identifies and reconciles any discrepancies to assure correct items have been received.
- Utilizes automation dispensing equipment available to the pharmacy staff following all safety and Quality Assurance procedures. Reports automation malfunctions timely the supervisor as appropriate
- Records expiration dates in the automatic prescription dispensing system upon receipt.
- Perform monthly inspections of assigned areas to ensure proper storage of medications and removal of soon to expire drugs. Completes inspection reports in compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Compounds and/or reconstitutes oral or external medications (non-sterile). This includes calculating and converting to proper weights and measuring the amount of drug or solution to be used for final pharmacist verification.
- Manufactures products requiring compounding, whether made in large batches for more than one patient or in small batches to fill a single prescription or drug order.
- Correctly interprets physician orders, selects, and measures appropriate ingredients, mixes ingredients in a safe and effective manner, inspects the final product for accuracy, labels the product, maintains records of the manufacturing process, and attains a final check by a pharmacist.
- Uses standard protocols to determine an accurate expiration date for each batch prepared.
- Proficiently operates equipment including but not limited to balances and mixing machines in the routing of manufacturing pharmaceutical products.
Duties are continued in the Education Section.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:45 PM
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: This is an onsite position. Telework may be offered when deemed necessary by the department AD-HOC (Employees who telework on an occasional, episodic, or short-term basis, and have completed required telework training and telework agreement.) (Portion of day acceptable)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 52891-F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements
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.
- You may be required to serve a trial 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 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).
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.
- English Language Proficiency - You must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)
- Education or Experience:
- None required.
- For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
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-07 Pharmacy Technician
- In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-07 you must possess at least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-06).
- Certification: For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
- Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT).
- National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).
- Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs:
- Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work.
- Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent.
- Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.
- Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.
- Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution.
- Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases.
Preferred Experience:
- Outstanding customer service
- Extremely motivated
- Fast learner and problem solver
- Ability to work with minimal supervision
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-7.
Physical Requirements:
Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination.
Education
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
NOTE: If your school was accredited by a body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the U.S. Department of Education website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet
Duties Continued:
- Assists higher level technicians as needed.
- Completes all National, VISN, local, and Pharmacy mandatory trainings in a timely manner.
- Maintains national certification with PTCB or ExCPT
- Complies with all VHA, Medical Center, and Pharmacy regulations, directives, policies, and procedures.
- Works in other areas of pharmacy service as deemed necessary by the Chief, Pharmacy Service or Supervisor.
- Accurately interprets, fills, and readies prescriptions with appropriate medications for pharmacist verification.
- Appropriately restocks controlled substance items in automated secured cabinets throughout medical center, as assigned.
- Documents all controlled substance related transactions as indicated by VA and DEA guidelines.
- Assures that inventory counts are correct at the time of restocking.
- Ensures that proper handoff occurs when receiving or delivering controlled substances, always assuring that these medications are never left unsecured.
- Reports unresolvable discrepancies to immediate area supervisor for resolution. Assists in investigating, witnessing, and resolving discrepancies.
- Complies with all laws, regulations, directives, policies, and procedures
- Provides proper documentations for all controlled substance that were claimed as lost from mail by the veterans. Initiates Issue Brief for each case to be reviewed by the supervisor.
- Assists inspectors with the inventory and accountability inspections.
- Monitors and analyzes orders and distribution patterns to identify questionable circumstances or unusual trends. Communicates potential problems to the supervisor.
- Provides training of controlled substance process to new pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, inspectors.
- Assembles prescriptions properly with the correct drug, strength, quantity, auxiliary labels, and prescription labels. for window dispensing and mail delivery.
- Assures that the correct medication is filled by using bar code scanning on stock bottles.
- Supports automation by manually completing prescriptions not processed through the automation dispensing machine
- Assures the timely completion of all prescriptions.
- Continuously monitors workflow through automatic dispensing devices and routinely calibrates cassettes to ensure the high performance, good quality, smooth workflow, and prevention of errors that occur during the normal operation of the system.
- Inventories and replenishes automated dispensing devices.
- Operates and performs routine maintenance as per automated system Quality Assurance guidelines to maintain high performance of the system and minimized down-time.
- Develops skills to facilitate correction of the automated systems.
- Documents downtime problems, actions, and resolution.
- Notifies the procurement technician when running low of any supplies for the automated system.
- Verifies the patient's identification following the Medical Center's policies (i.e., double patient identifiers)
- Verifies that the patient receives the correct prescriptions by using VA software (i.e., VISTA and barcode scanning)
- Verifies that the patient has received all prescriptions (i.e., refrigerated, controlled substances, bulk medications, etc.)
- Utilizes and comprehends the mail shipping programs used by the facility (i.e., USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.) for overnight delivery of non-controlled and controlled prescriptions.
- Performs searches, updates patient information, and generates shipping reports as requested by the supervisor.
- Calls patients to arrange delivery of refrigerated prescriptions and verifies patients address.
- Packages prescriptions appropriately, as to assure that packages are not damaged during transit (i.e., bubble wrap, ice blocks, insulated containers, etc.)
- Utilizes VA software programs to check narratives and problem solves deliveries for patients with no physical address.
- Responds to all CCC requests in Power APP timely.
- Call veteran when requested by CCC team.
- Follows facility script and etiquette when talking to customers.
- Handles patient queries and resolve their issues or initiate appropriate steps such as complaint escalation to appropriate pharmacy staff for resolution.
- Informs the Pharmacy Supervisor of problems or unusual situations with recommendations for appropriate action requiring pharmacy actions.
- Provides accurate information on status of prescriptions, refill and renewal process and relaying judgmental questions to the pharmacist as appropriate.
- Assists the pharmacist in the pre-packing and filling or nursing home orders in a timely manner.
- Enters all required information into SNH/CS pre-packing log as outline by pharmacy protocol and Standard Operation Process "Medication Distribution to Ambrosio Guillen Nursing Home Patients."
- Fills prescriptions the day the label is generated or all new and refill medication orders for eligible Veterans. Orders will be faxed by the state nursing home (SNH) to the VA Pharmacy Monday-Friday (exceptions on holidays).
Duties are continued in the Additional Info Section.
Benefits
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.
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 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.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 08/13/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12778425.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required 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.
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.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.