Senior Social Worker (Substance Use Disorder) Job in Anchorage, AK

Vacancy No. CBSV-12758176-25-JHJ Department Veterans Health Administration
Salary $106,057.00 to $137,879.00 Grade 12 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 7/8/2025 Close Date 7/31/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Anchorage, AK


Summary

The Senior Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial and Evidence Based Therapies to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Veterans treated in Social and Behavioral Health come primarily from the Anchorage catchment area. Their health care and psychosocial problems and needs are complex and require clinical oversight and creative problem solving.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees and current permanent Federal employees of other agencies. Applicants will be referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent Facility employees. 2. Current permanent Agency (Department of Veterans Affairs) employees. 3. Current permanent employees of other Federal agencies.

Duties

A RELOCATION INCENTIVE MAY BE AUTHORIZED

The Senior Social Worker is responsible for providing outpatient mental health treatment and psychosocial intervention to address a broad range of SUD and mental health issues. The incumbent serves Veterans who tend to have serious, frequent and severe crises, lack family or adequate community support networks, frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatments, have significant deficits in coping skills, and require continuing psychosocial support. The Senior Social Worker provides a continuum of care encompassing individual, group, couple, and family counseling, demonstrating possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.

FUNCTIONS OF POSITION:
Interview Clients and Conduct Psychosocial Assessments.

  • Interview Veterans and their family members to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems, their causes, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment.
  • Interpret and explain VA's treatment and benefit programs.
  • Review all data and make a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths.
  • Use advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and identify viable treatment options.
  • Assess high risk factors, acuity, and need for services.
Make Psychosocial Diagnoses.
  • Evaluate the client's situation, including the Veteran's reaction and ability to cope with his/her life stressors and arrive at a reasoned conclusion.
  • Based on the psychosocial assessment, use professional judgment and advanced practice skills to make a psychosocial diagnosis.
  • Assess at-risk factors and develop a preliminary disposition plan involving the Veteran and family or significant others.
  • Perform insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness involving psychiatric, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia, and other high-risk diagnoses.
  • Make independent professional decisions and recommendations.
Plan Effective Treatment.
  • Develop psychosocial treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment.
  • Provide independent consultation and make recommendations to the interdisciplinary team on a course of treatment.
  • Independently conclude the appropriate action, even in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the Veteran. This may include long-term institutional or nursing home care or separation from family members. These decisions are based on advanced practice skills, professional judgment, and expertise regarding the Veteran's self-care capability, family support system, and health care needs.
  • Evaluate own practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.
  • Be active in and accept responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment.
  • Adjust the psychosocial treatment plan and interventions based on changing needs and response to interventions.
Implement Treatment.
  • Provide individual and group therapy to patients and their families, on a regularly scheduled basis to engage in activities or discussion designed to improve patients' cognitive, social, emotional, vocational, and behavioral functioning.
  • Give advice, guidance, emotional support, and other assistance.
  • Provide individual and group counseling services, including psychotherapy.
  • Assist and encourage Veterans and significant others in facing problems, thinking them through, evaluating the situation realistically, considering alternative courses of action, and arrive at plans for using resources to resolve problems.
  • Use highly developed professional, clinical, and advanced practice skills to treat Veterans with complex problems, histories of non-compliance with treatment, and inability or unwillingness to participate in treatment.
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: M- F, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Relocation Incentive: AUTHORIZED.
Permanent Change of Station: Not Authorized.
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
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).
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.
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.
Telework: Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
  • 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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following:
  • Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S. Code).
  • Education. Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work.
    • Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a Master of Social Work.
  • Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
  • English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Senior Social Worker, GS-12.
Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level.
  • Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty.
Licensure/Certification. Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
(a) Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
(c) Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
(d) Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills.
(e) Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.

References: 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.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position require light lifting and carrying (under 15 pounds); use of fingers; both hands required; both eyes required; hearing (aid may be permitted); and emotional and mental stability.

Environmental Factors: Work may be performed outside and inside; prolonged sitting; and you must be able to work alone and closely with others.

Education

IMPORTANT: This position has a positive education or training requirement. An unofficial copy of college transcripts showing completion of the required degree or program is required and must include the name of the school, your name, date conferred or completed, and degree or certificate type.

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/.

Additional information

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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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.

During the application process you may 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.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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.

What are KSAs?
In the federal hiring process, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) are a list of special qualifications and personal attributes that you need to have for a particular job/grade level (see Qualifications section of this announcement).

  • Knowledge statements refer to an organized body of information usually of a factual or procedural nature which, if applied, makes adequate performance on the job possible. A body of information applied directly to the performance of a function. Skill statements refer to the proficient manual, verbal or mental manipulation of data or things.
  • Skills can be readily measured by a performance test where quantity and quality of performance are tested, usually within an established time limit.
  • Ability statements refer to the power to perform an observable activity at the present time. This means that abilities have been evidenced through activities or behaviors that are similar to those required on the job. Note that abilities are different from aptitudes. Aptitudes are only the potential for performing the activity.
Although not required at the time of application, we highly recommend submitting a supplemental document with your written responses to the KSAs required at each grade level you wish to be considered. If you choose not to submit KSA responses, please ensure your resume includes details of your experience that fully demonstrate the required KSAs as described in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement.

5 Tips for Writing a Federal Resume - FederalPay.org (https://www.federalpay.org/articles/5-tips-for-writing-a-federal-resume)

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.

Required Documents

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

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

For Adobe pdf forms:
  1. Save the file to your computer or phone, do not open it in a browser window.
  2. Once saved, open it using Adobe Acrobat or Reader (if you complete the form in a browser, the data is not saved to the form).
  3. Save the data in Adobe and sign the form. Close the file.
  4. If unable to sign, open in a web browser to sign and save. This will keep all the data and allow you to sign the form.
NOTE: If you are claiming Agency or Federal Employee Eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent (not more than 1 year old) Notification of Personnel Action, SF-50 (Not an award SF-50). Your SF-50 must include:
  • Position title, pay plan/series/grade
  • Tenure code
  • Position Occupied - type of appointment (Competitive or Excepted)
Within Grade Increase, General Adjustments, or Promotion SF-50's are best, Award SF-50's do not include this pertinent information.

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
  • License
  • Other (1)
  • Performance Appraisal
  • Professional Certification
  • Resume
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
  • Transcript

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

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 07/29/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12758176.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Agency contact information

Joe Julkowski
Address
Anchorage VA Medical Center
1201 North Muldoon Road
Anchorage, AK 99504
US

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.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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