Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens. Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. 3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies. 4. All other Applicants All other applicant will be referred in Veterans' Preference Order

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• The speech-language pathologist at this level conducts, plans, and coordinates all clinical and administrative aspects of a full range of services associated with contemporary speech-language pathology practice.
• The incumbent is responsible for independent diagnostic assessment and evaluation of cases that are referred to Speech-Language Pathology without limitation as to difficulty or complexity, but consults as necessary with senior staff. The incumbent will be responsible to conduct interviews with the patients and appropriate family members and/or friends, selects, administers and interprets the diagnostic test necessary to detect and evaluate any type of speech, language, voice, fluency, cognitive, and/or swallowing disorders. The set-up and/or pre-cleaning of all reusable medical equipment associated with the scope of this position will be carried out and accomplished in accordance with set manufacturer specifications.
• The incumbent is responsible for the adequacy of assessment and for the reporting of the findings to other professional workers with whom he/she or other members of the speech-language pathology service may cooperate in formulating diagnostic and clinical judgments; assesses patient condition from close observation and consultation with other members of the inter-disciplinary health care team; and utilizing all diagnostic and evaluative procedures and techniques consistent with contemporary speech-language pathology practice.
• The incumbent is responsible for planning, conducting, coordinating, and monitoring the effectiveness and clinical outcomes of patient-centered treatment and rehabilitative services to maximize and restore to the greatest extent possible physical and social functioning.
  The incumbent is responsible for the administration of a full range tests of speech, language, voice, fluency, and cognition including modal level and variation of vocal pitch and loudness; variability of the rate of vocal utterance; frequency and complexity of speech disfluency; consistency and adaptation of disfluency in sustained or repeated speaking and aural reading; phonetic analysis of speech designed to identify and evaluate patterns of misarticulation, such as distortions and omissions of sounds, as well as phonemic substitutions, including patterns of variation and speech sound articulation; and identification of phonetic and semantic factors related to this variation.
  The incumbent develops an effective and comprehensive plan of care for swallowing disorders in collaboration with other health care practitioners; establishes and maintains an effective therapy relationship with the patient, family and caregivers; and adjusts treatment plan to patient response and indicators of progress.
• The incumbent will complete all documentation in accordance with facility policy.
• The incumbent remains current with new developments in speech-language pathology and maintains professional competency by reading professional journals and engaging in continuing education activities and professional learning experiences and by communicating with other professionals in the profession and related professions.
• Communication is required by this position and the incumbent will be expected to attend regular staff meetings and inter-disciplinary health care team meeting as appropriate; review policies and procedures, and attend in-service training.
• The incumbent is responsible for supervising, mentoring, and precepting student trainees in speech-language pathology and maintaining liaisons with affiliated colleges and universities. He/she may also provide instruction to residents and interns who seek information relation to speech-language pathology practice.
• The incumbent performs ancillary assignments, including program management duties on an occasional basis, where the complexity and amount of the work is not substantial.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency: SLP candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education and Experience:
  • A master's degree, or its equivalent, in speech-language pathology, communication disorders or a directly related field from an accredited college or university and one year of creditable experience (see paragraph 2.g.). or
  • A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university.
• Licensure: Individuals must hold a full, current and unrestricted license in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth or the District of Columbia.
  • Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for SLP licensure may be appointed to a temporary position as a graduate SLP under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 (c)(2). Individuals appointed as graduate SLPs may not be promoted to the GS-12 level without being fully licensed.
  • The requirement for licensure may be waived by the Under Secretary for Health or designee in VHA Central Office for individuals engaged in research or academic assignments involving no direct patient care duties, in accordance with current activities.
  • An SLP who has, or ever has had their speech-language pathology license revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited or issued/placed on probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16 of this part.

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:

• Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-11:
  • Education: None beyond the basic requirements.
  • Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the basic requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
    • Knowledge of principles and techniques in assessing and treating disorders of speech, language, cognitive-communication and swallowing.
    • Knowledge of instrumentation and technologies for assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders.
    • Ability to adapt clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate unique patient conditions, needs and goals.
• Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-12:
  • Experience: In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-11 level, completing one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower level (GS-11) and possessing a full, current and unrestricted license to practice speech-language pathology.
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
    • Skill in applying principles and techniques of diagnosis and treatment associated with contemporary speech-language pathology following evidence-based practice for adult patients exhibiting the full range of speech to the full range of patient populations.
    • Skill in administering and interpreting instrumental swallowing evaluations.
    • Ability to assess the effectiveness of clinical outcomes and adapt clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate unique patient conditions.

Preferred Experience: Adult medical speech pathology experience preferred. Experience in completing videofluoroscopic swallow studies preferred.

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-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-12.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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.

This job is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.
4. All other Applicants

All other applicant will be referred in Veterans' Preference Order

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
• 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
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) on a separate document - KSAs are found under qualification/grade requirements in the announcement
• Resume/CV exceeding two-pages
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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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