Social Worker Program Manager (Chief, Social Work Service) Job in Palo Alto, CA

Vacancy No. CBSW-12760045-25-MLF Department Veterans Health Administration
Salary $211,475.00 to $225,700.00 Grade 15 to 15
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 7/11/2025 Close Date 7/16/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Palo Alto, CA


Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UUTotal Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Social Work Program Manager (Chief/Executive) for the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) oversees all aspects of Social Work Services at this Level 1a high complexity VA facility. Social Work Service consists of Mental Health (Inpatient and Outpatient), Extended Care, Medicine and Surgery, Integrated Patient Aligned Care Teams (I-PACT), Polytrauma Systems of Care, Transitions Case Management (TCM), Spinal Cord Injury/Disease (SCI/D), Western Blind Rehabilitation Center (WBRC), and Caregiver Support Programs (CSP). The Domiciliary, Psychiatry, and Geriatric/Palliative Care/Extended Care Service Lines also employ social workers who are administratively under their own service line staff. The incumbent will participate in overseeing the practice of all social workers at VAPAHCS, as the Social Work Executive at this facility. The incumbent has full responsibility for the provision of complex social work services requiring advanced practice skills. Incumbent is a full-time administrator and serves as the Social Work Executive for more than 250 social work staff, including oversight of subordinate supervisory social workers spread throughout the three divisions and in four Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). Incumbent has full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management and supervision, and organizational stewardship for a social work program. VAPAHCS has a variety of clinical programs with a wide range of acute activities providing inpatient and outpatient services and treatment for patients in general medicine and surgery, medical specialty programs, geriatrics and extended care, psychiatry, addiction treatment, palliative care, hospice care, specialty rehabilitation programs (e.g., Spinal Cord Injury, Western Blind Rehabilitation Center), home-based primary care, community care, and various other ambulatory care programs (e.g., Integrated Patient Aligned Care Teams, Caregiver Support Program, Post-9/11 Military2VA) with related research, educational and program evaluation functions. The position requires that the employee travel to the various sites and to other VA facilities, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), or VACO, as necessary.

  • Nature/Purpose of Work:
    • The Social Work Program Manager (Chief/Executive) is responsible for defining the mission and vision of the Service, developing the scope of practice for all social workers at the facility, designing a Social Work Service Plan of Care, and assuring implementation of process improvement activities aimed at creating a highly reliable system for provision of social work services.
  • FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
    • Incumbent is responsible for the strategic planning and operation of the Social Work Service.
    • Oversees all professional social work activities within the medical center, ensuring that educational and quality of care functions related to the psychosocial needs of veterans are met.
    • Responsible for making decisions regarding work problems presented by subordinate social work supervisors.
  • Basic Life Support (BLS):
    • Completes BLS as required per facility policy.
  • Driver's License:
    • The incumbent of this position must possess an appropriate, valid CA driver's license to operate sanctioned vehicles in the transportation of patients and/or equipment.
  • Other Duties as assigned
Work Schedule: M-F 8:00 am - 4:30 pm or as determined by supervisor.
Compressed/Flexible:This may be authorized at the supervisor's discretion.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants are ineligible to apply for the incentive. Contact V21CCOEEDRP@VA.GOV, the EDRP Coordinator, for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offered 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 eligible for Telework
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 03013-F

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

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: 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:
  • 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 a 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/.
  • Failure to Obtain License or Certification: In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
  • Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
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.
  • Social Work Program Manager, GS-15:
  • Experience/Education:
    • The social work program manager at the GS-15 grade level must have at least four years of experience as a VA clinical social worker with at least one-year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. The social work program manager must evidence possession of progressively higher supervisory and management skills. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. The 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 individual 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:
      • Ability to manage and direct unusually large interdisciplinary programs, complex organizational units, apply effective management practices, plan, design, implement, and evaluate a program(s) that encompasses a wide range of facility/healthcare system/VISN/CO activities.
      • Ability to oversee issues related to budget projections and participate with senior leaders from the governing body, management and staff in upholding the facility mission, vision, value and strategic plan to include directly interacting with elected officials on VA related issues/concerns (i.e., members of Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, State and Local entities).
      • Knowledge in establishing policy, procedures and quality monitors while considering multiple priorities, funding sources, and varying resources.
      • Skill in assessing need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic patient care venues, coordinate and expand the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system.
      • Knowledge to complete all program evaluations and documents required by the medical center, VISN and VHA Central Office, ensuring compliance with appropriate accrediting bodies such as The Joint Commission (TJC), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).
      • Ability to orient, teach and serve as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the clinical social work characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding Veterans, family members and caregivers.
      • Skill in balancing responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy, set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines; analyze complex organizational problems and develop and implement effective solutions for those problems.
      • Ability to promote and effectively manage a workforce which embraces the values and needs of all individuals through long-term commitment, strategic and business planning, education, experience which broadens the mindset and by fully managing human resources.
  • 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.
    • At the GS-15 grade level, size, scope, significance and impact is greater than the GS-14 grade level.
    • The broad responsibility includes management of a very large, significantly complex service within the organization.
    • The social work program manager delivers a wide range of specialized professional services that significantly impact the health care provided to Veterans, their families, and caregivers.
    • Provides direct oversight to services with multiple complex programs, located at multiple sites and sections across the health care delivery system.
    • The social work program manager is typically located in a complexity level one Health Care System and is assigned as a service line director, associate chief of staff, or service chief within the facility.
    • The service includes staff members of different grades, multiple disciplines, and various treatment sites at multiple locations close to and distant from the primary medical facility.
    • The manager has full responsibility for managing and supervising all aspects of program operations, including clinical practice of an unusually large number of employees across multiple areas/sites, education, quality assurance for outcomes, human resources management and supervision of the extraordinarily large service.
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-15. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the GS-15.

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

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/.

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.

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:

  • Resume


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
  • Other (1)
  • Professional Certification
  • Resume
  • SF-15
  • 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 07/16/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12760045.

  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

Michael Flournoy
Address
Palo Alto VA Medical Center
3801 Miranda Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94304
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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