Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent VA employees and all US Citizens NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

Major duties and responsibilities are as follows:

• The Assistant Chief has working knowledge and experience of medical and mental health diagnosis, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This included acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects, and medical terminology.
• Incumbent is responsible for making decisions regarding work problems presented by subordinate social work supervisors. Incumbent collaborates with others in negotiating, deciding upon, and/or coordinating social work-related changes affecting other programs. The Assistant Chief advises Care Line Managers/Chiefs on problems involving relationship of Social Work activities to the various units and programs.
• The incumbent makes selections for supervisory and non-supervisory positions, completed performance reviews, hears group grievances and serious employee complaints, review serious disciplinary cases (i.e., those proposing suspensions and removals), and disciplinary problems involving key employees. The individual consults with specialists regarding training needs and decide types of training problems related to the identified problems of the supervised wards/units.
• Develops procedures for and ensures the implementation and achievement of the provision of Social Work Services to medical facility patients on inpatient and outpatient programs. Provides, or ensures that professional staff provide advice, assistance, and consultation to community health and welfare agencies and councils and other community groups to enhance the provision of social services to veteran patients in the community.
• Develops and monitors standards of clinical practice/standards of care for Social Work, including development of care guidelines, manuals, and guides to professional practice. Develops consistent standard operating procedures required to accomplish clinical care interventions and ensures that they are followed. They are responsible for developing patient education material for Social Work Service.
• Makes recommendations for recruitment of staff and ensures responsibilities for orientation and continuing education of staff. Evaluates and consults on the Social Work role in various programs.
• Manages and directs Social Work activities in the Service Lines including interventions to resolve administrative problems and participates in program evaluations.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm.
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: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 58558F
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 dentification 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

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:

• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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 masters 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.

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 , Supervisory Social Worker, GS-13:

Experience/ Education. One (1) year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. Individual may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience,

Licensure/Certification. The assistant service chief must evidence possession of supervisory and management skills, must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of administrative and supervisory duties which includes personnel actions, clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments, and quality improvement.
2. Knowledge of legal, ethical, and professional standards applicable to social work practice.
3. Ability to develop, maintain, and oversee social work programs in all settings.
4. Knowledge of social work practice, policy, and accreditation standards across the continuum of health care.
5. Skill in providing consultation to facility leadership, managers, and other staff on social work qualification standards, practice, competency, productivity, and continuing education requirements.

Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. This position is restricted to those serving as a full assistant to the chief social work service for both administrative and professional practice. These individuals share with the chief full responsibility for managing and supervising all aspects of social work service operations. At the GS-13 grade level, individuals are typically assigned as assistant chief of a large complex social work service within the organization that offers social work services at VHA facilities with one or more divisions. While the chief has full management and supervisory responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management and supervision, and organizational stewardship for the social work program, the assistant chief is responsible for supporting these functions per the direction of the chief. In the absence of the social work chief, the assistant chief has full management and supervisory responsibility for the social work program. The assistant chief provides supervision to a moderate social work service and staff, members of different grades that may include multiple disciplines; treatment sites are limited and in close proximity to the medical center, and programs are with limited administrative oversite responsibility. Such facilities may offer specialty care and services and may be affiliated with academic institutions. The assistant chief develops and maintains a system of internal reviews that ensure service programs operate at a satisfactory level of performance and are in compliance with regulations. The assistant chief has responsibility for utilization of resources and budget. They make selections, assign personnel, and serve as a mentor to help employees develop their full potential.

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-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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

Next steps