Supervisory Chaplain ( Assistant Chief) Job in Atlanta, GA

Vacancy No. CBTB-12743467-25-RM Department Veterans Health Administration
Salary $111,442.00 to $144,876.00 Grade 13 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 6/5/2025 Close Date 6/13/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Atlanta, GA


Summary

The incumbent serves as the Supervisory Chaplain professional performing supervisory & senior clinical assignments for the VHA. He/she provides comprehensive religious, spiritual, and pastoral care to all persons that are commensurate with the needs, desires, and voluntary consent of the Veteran, caregiver, or staff. He/she addresses the spiritual component of health and wellness in every patient care setting to ensure that pastoral care is fully integrated into all aspects of chaplain services.

Duties

  • Provides comprehensive, religious ministry services to Veteran patients according to their specific needs and desires.
  • Provides thorough guidance and advice to Chaplain Service management staff, other Chaplains, and other stakeholders.
  • Manages a moderately complex to very complex chaplain service program with identified specialty chaplains working in (Hospice and Palliative Care, Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Residential and Outpatient programs, Substance Use Disorder Clinics, Cancer Treatment Clinics, Women's Health Clinics, Spinal Cord Injury Clinics, etc.
  • Develops local policy, productivity, and clinical practice standards.
  • Oversees pastoral ministry, including intensive pastoral counseling, close integral working relationships with other staff disciplines, and active community liaison.
  • Serves as the Supervisory Chaplain expert participant with other specialists as a fully recognized member of an interdisciplinary treatment team (IDT).
  • Engages with other program heads and the VHA facility's administrator in decision making conferences concerning policies, practices, and regulations affecting the care and treatment program of the facility.
  • Develops one or more subprograms (training, research, community relationships, or religious education if in relationship to the intensive overall treatment program), to advance the religious program and the mission of the medical facility.
  • Maintains records, supplies, and religious equipment for the assigned program; and tracks and maintains the program's budget.
  • Provides consultation to facility leadership, managers, and other staff on all religious expression and spiritual care.
  • Establishes performance and productivity metrics and productivity outcomes, organizational plans, and staff development issues. Ensures compliance with agency and accreditation requirements and sets the strategic direction of the service.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am until 4:30 pm
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 50405O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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 probationary period.
  • Subject to background/security investigation.
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

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: accordance with VA Policy.
  • English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
  • Education: Applicants must possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational qualifications as evidenced by a graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. NOTE: For applicants who do not possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational degree, an approved educational equivalency review from a nationally recognized board certification body for chaplains is acceptable. Foreign Education. To be creditable, theological or related education completed outside the U.S. must be submitted to a current affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) listed at https://www.naces.org/members.
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE):
Applicants must have completed four units of CPE from a CPE center that is accredited by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Ecclesiastical Endorsement: An individual must possess and maintain a full and active ecclesiastical endorsement to be employed as a VA chaplain. Applicants must have an ecclesiastical endorsement, dated within the past 12 months. Ecclesiastical endorsements must be from the official national endorsing authority of the applicant's/employee's faith group or denomination. Ecclesiastical endorsement is a written official statement, by the official national endorsing body of the faith group or denomination, certifying that the applicant is in good standing with the applicant's faith group or denomination; and stating that the individual is, in the opinion of the endorsing body, qualified to perform the full range of ministry required in the VA pluralistic setting. Loss of endorsement will result in removal from the GS-0060 Chaplain series and may result in termination of employment. The National Chaplain Service maintains a list of approved endorsing organizations that can be found here: https://www.patientcare.va.gov/chaplain/Employment_Information_and_Resources.asp

Board Certification:
Applicants must be a Board Certified Chaplain certified by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. (BCCI) ® or nationally recognized certification body that utilizes the BCCI ® Common Qualifications and Competencies for Professional Chaplaincy or a certifying organization that has a reciprocity
agreement with BCCI ®.

Grade Determinations:
Supervisory Chaplain,
GS-13
Experience. At this level, the candidate must possess one year of creditable experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level that is directly related to the position to be filled.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience or education above; the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of administrative, personnel, and resource management and strategic planning for chaplaincy and chaplain pastoral education programs.
2. Ability to provide the full range of supervisory duties, which include responsibility for assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff and recommendation of awards, advancements and disciplinary actions.
3. Skill in interpersonal relationships, including conflict resolution and ability to work collaboratively with managers from other departments.
4. Ability to develop local policy, productivity and clinical practice standards.
5. Ability to align chaplaincy services and programming with the strategic goals and objectives of the facility, Veterans Integrated Service Network and VHA
.6. Ability to ensure compliance with chaplaincy practice, policy and accreditation standards across the continuum of health care.
7. Skill in providing consultation to facility leadership, managers and other staff on all religious expression and spiritual care.

References: VA Handbook 5005/135 September 24, 2020 PART II APPENDIX G67Physical

Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.


Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/.

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:

1. Resume - must include the following information for each job listed: Job Title and Duties (be as detailed as possible), Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June2024 to April 2025), full-time or part-time (include hours worked per week) and Education (location, degree earned and date awarded), Supervisor's name and telephone number, Please indicate whether your supervisor(s) can be contacted.

2. Transcript - Copy of transcripts showing the date the degree was conferred.

Applicants will be rated ineligible if not submitted and/or if degree conferred date is not provided.3. Copy of current certification. Applicants will be rated ineligible if not submitted.

4. SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

  • Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
  • An SF-50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade
  • Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
  • Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
    • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
    • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
    • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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 06/13/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12743467.

  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.

To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Agency contact information

Rosemay McIntosh
Address
Atlanta VA Medical Center
1670 Clairmont Road
Decatur, GA 30033
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.


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