Speech-Language Pathologist

Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current and permanent employee of the Veterans Health Administration NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

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. Major duties include, but not limited to:

• Independent diagnostic assessment and evaluation of cases that are referred to Speech-Language Pathology without limitation as to difficulty or complexity.
• 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.
• Responsible for the adequacy of assessment and for the reporting of the findings to other professional workers with whom he/she works 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Serves as a consultant to other facility personnel involving the most difficult and complex cases and is a recognized subject matter expert on matters related to speech, language voice, fluency, cognitive, and swallowing disorders.
• Remain current with new developments in speech-language pathology and will maintain 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.
• Patient scheduling, assessment, goal setting, patient education, treatment implementation and discharge planning for patients referred to speech therapy.
• Performs and interprets the results of tests and measurements of the patient's status in order to formulate an appropriate, comprehensive treatment plan.
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Sunday - Thursday, 7:00am-3:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 23996-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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.
• 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 identification 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:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• English Language Proficiency: Speech-Language Pathologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• Education:
  • 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.
  • OR
  • A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university. "Accredited" means a college or university recognized by a regional accreditation organization and a speech-language pathology academic program recognized by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
• 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.
• Grandfathering Provision: All persons employed in VHA in this occupational series or in another occupational series that are also performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held, including positive education and licensure. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
  1. SLPs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level or changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
  2. If SLPs who are retained under this provision leave the occupation, they will lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
  3. SLPs initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard, must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment.
  4. SLPs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

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, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-11

• Experience: 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:
  • (a) Knowledge of principles and techniques in assessing and treating disorders of speech, language, cognitive-communication and swallowing.
  • (b) Knowledge of instrumentation and technologies for assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders.
  • (c) Ability to adapt clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate unique patient conditions, needs and goals.
• Assignment: SLPs at this entry developmental grade level assess and treat patients with routine speech, language, voice, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders following the principles of evidence-based practice and perform clinical procedures with respect to age-specific, unique patient conditions and needs. When assessing and treating patients with complex or rare speech, language, voice, cognitive communication and swallowing disorders, SLPs may require consultation with an SLP at the full performance or higher level.

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 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:
  • (a) 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.
  • (b) Skill in administering and interpreting instrumental swallowing evaluations.
  • (c) Ability to assess the effectiveness of clinical outcomes and adapt clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate unique patient conditions.
• Assignment: This is the full performance level. At this level, SLPs independently provide evidence-based assessment and treatment interventions to individuals with a wide range of speech, language, voice, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders. Staff SLPs select, administer and interpret standardized and non-standardized assessment measures. They integrate assessment findings into a patient-centered treatment plan of care and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions by collecting and documenting treatment outcomes. SLPs may be assigned to work in a specific clinical area such as traumatic brain injury, head and neck cancer, movement disorders or spinal cord injury. They may provide clinical training experiences for trainees and students and participate in research activities

Preferred Experience: 1 year of experience in acute care

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.

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:

• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)

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.

• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Other (1)
• 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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