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. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Incumbent has overall responsibility for management and direction of large, geographically- separated, integrated health care facility. Incumbent plans, coordinates, and evaluates complex interdisciplinary services across the full continuum of care including not only audiology and speech-language pathology but also other focused rehabilitation, ancillary, or other health care services. The incumbent is responsible for oversight of clinical competence and performance of peers. Incumbent has the responsibility for general supervision of clinical and/or training programs, and overall technical and administrative oversight for operations within the service

EDUCATION

• Provides orientation/training of medical staff
• Assists in orientation and training of new staff
• Assists in the training and supervision of students, trainees, and fellows, providing feedback on progress toward established educational goals
• Keeps current with theory and practice through continuing education programs, journals, textbooks, and other literature, and in-service programs.
• Provides patient and family education including informed consent.

ADMINISTRATIVE

In carrying out the administrative duties and responsibilities of the position, incumbent:

• Develops, organizes, directs, manages, supervises, controls, and implements policies and procedures for complex service-level departments;
• Demonstrates skill in managing and directing work to include setting priorities and delegating tasks, meeting multiple deadlines, analyzing complex organizational problems in order to develop and implement effective solutions;
• Balances responsibilities applicable to a large service-level or multi-service organizational environment and to work with great autonomy;
• Has skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers and shows potential ability to supervise, motivate, and manage effectively a diverse clinical staff applicable to a service-level department in a large, complex, or multi-division facility;
• Has advanced knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines in multiple professional areas, and to guide the service staff in applying these tools;
• Has skill in problem solving and conflict resolution,;
• Shows potential ability to and knowledge of, and ability to budgets for a large, integrated services including not only speech-language pathology but also other focused rehabilitation, ancillary, or other health care services;
• Has overall responsibility for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivered by the service and the overall delivery of health care within the facility;
• Delegates responsibilities to subordinate section or assistant chiefs (if applicable), planning, and scheduling work; assigning work to employees; accepting, amending or rejecting completed work; assuring that production and accuracy requirements are met; appraising performance and recommending performance standards and ratings; assigning delineated clinical privileges; approving leave; and effecting all levels of disciplinary measures;
• Exercises supervision, administrative management and direction of both professional areas in a unified audiology and speech-language pathology service or equivalent service-level department, or administrative management and program direction of other rehabilitation-related areas;
• Establishes and monitors productivity standards and production and performance priorities and accommodates to new and changing work conditions and contingencies, including staffing changes;
• Translates management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled service operations.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 04133F
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 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).
• 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: Audiologist must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• Citizenship: Must be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• Education:

Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE)
OR,
Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) OR Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.

• Licensure: Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• Loss of Credential. Management officials, in collaboration with HR Office staff must immediately relieve employees who fail to maintain the required 4 licensure of the duties and responsibilities associated with this occupation which may also result in separation from employment.
• Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and licensure, where applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment specific requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or be changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Employees 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.
3. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
4. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional licensure that meets all the basic or assignment specific qualification requirements of this standard must maintain the required credential as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. NOTE: This grandfathering provision is not intended to regularize appointments/ placements.

Grade Determinations: In addition to basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining grade for GS-14, Supervisory Audiology.

• Experience: At least three years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the candidate must demonstrate the following professional KSAs identified below.

1. Skill in promoting collaboration to accomplish goals.
2. Skill in translating management goals and objectives into efficient service operations.
3. Skill in balancing operational resources to ensure appropriate delivery of service operations.
4. Ability to supervise staff.
5. Ability to effectively interact and collaborate with local, VISN and/or national leadership.
6. Ability to establish and monitor productivity standards, production and performance priorities to achieve management goals and objectives.

Assignments. Supervisory audiologists spend 25% or more of their time providing technical and administrative supervision. Supervisory 14 audiologists in this assignment serve as service chiefs. Audiologist service chiefs at this level typically manage programs in Complexity Level 1 (high complexity) facilities. The service or organizational entity is a major component of the medical center and the services or programs supervised are highly professional, technical, and complex. They are responsible for all professional, management, and administrative aspects of the service or organizational entity. They have broad and overall responsibility for a service-level organizational unit and have full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resources management and supervision for the service. They autonomously manage substantive parts of specialized, complex, professional services that significantly impact Veterans' care. They provide leadership with objective, independent assessments and recommendations for policy, operational and administrative issues and initiatives requiring decision and action. They monitor work performance to ensure that requirements are satisfied; interpret and process a wide variety of data related to program planning and specialized needs of the Veterans, the service and the medical center; and ensure policies or issues have been fully coordinated, vetted and staffed. Audiologist service chiefs advise executive leadership on implications, key issues, and relationships to interest groups (both internal and external) and recommend courses of action. They coordinate and negotiate resolutions to complex problems. They assure compliance with accrediting agencies and regulatory requirements and corrective action is initiated as needed. They are responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution. They maintain interdepartmental relationships with other services to accomplish medical center goals. They may prepare special reports and responses, Congressional responses, briefing papers, issue briefs, and decision papers for the medical center leadership, which may be highly sensitive, confidential and of a complex nature. They develop policies and procedures and may develop performance standards, position descriptions, and functional statements. They monitor the clinical performance of staff, conduct performance appraisals, perform other clinical, and administrative responsibilities to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center has been satisfied. They may set training objectives for staff and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections.

Preferred Experience: Experience as supervisory speech pathologist or audiologist. Licensed Audiologist or Speech Pathologists. Employee management experience. Prior VA experience 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-14.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and 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:

• Resume

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 (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps