Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to current, permanent employees of the San Francisco VA Rehabilitation Department only. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Major duties:

Program Development and Management/Leading Change

• Provide coordination and delivery of OT services in the Inpatient and CLC areas.
• Collaborate with OT Section Chief, PT Inpatient Supervisor, PT Section Chief, and other Rahab leadership staff on common issues and processes. Collaborate with other relevant parties within the facility for processes and projects that involve multiple disciplines.
• Enforce health and safety policies, such as infection control, safe patient handling, and proper use of equipment.
• Facilitate a working environment that supports the principles of a High Reliability Organization (HRO), is client-centered, and enhances psychological safety of staff.

Human Resources/Leading People:

• Project staffing needs by assessing vacancies and their impact on work quality, timeliness, accuracy, and safety.
• Prepare staffing requests in accordance with current SFVA processes and working closely with the Rehab Service Chief and administrative staff.
• Review Leave requests for staff under supervision, arrange for patient care coverage and complete timecard approvals and certifications in VATAS.
• Conduct recruitment activities - developing interview questions, assembling panels, conducting interviews, selecting applicants for new and vacant positions, in collaboration with the HR Specialist. Complete relevant portions of USAStaffing or current electronic HR program.
• Conduct orientation activities and implement and maintain competency reviews for area of care.
• Write and update as necessary performance standards, functional descriptions, and competencies for the Inpatient and CLC areas.
• Manage performance - release the performance plan, monitor performance throughout the year, rate performance at mid-year and final, and complete all e-performance actions assigned to the "rater" for staff under their supervision.

Performance Improvement:

• Collect and analyze clinical and administrative data from local and national sources. Data includes workload productivity, work demand, timely response to consults, quality of care, timeliness, and content of patient care documentation, results of the All-Employee Survey (AES), injuries or near misses, patient satisfaction, and staff feedback.
• Identify areas of improvement through the review and analysis of data.
• Review literature and best practices from other services or sites, solicit ideas from staff and subject matter experts (SMEs) and analyze current processes for errors, redundancies and/or opportunities to standardize and/or focus training and education efforts.
• Identify and implement specific strategies for improvement and reassess for effectiveness.

Clinical Duties:

• Use knowledge of evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines for Inpatient and CLC OT areas to provide technical oversight of staff. Enlist SMEs when needed.
• Consult on unusual or complex cases or those without precedent.
• Provide direct occupational therapy clinical care, including evaluations, treatment planning, treatment implementation, and regular review of response to OT, leading to modification of treatment goals and plans, discharge from OT and/or referral to other services.
• Record clinical information in the electronic medical record and complete other required tasks, such as encounter completion or DME ordering in a timely and accurate manner.

Professional Stewardship:

• Incorporate VHA, VISN, and SFVAHCS mission, vision, values, and strategic plan into the development of OT programming.
• Be familiar with and enforce the standards of regulatory agencies such as the Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), prepare for successful audits and conduct remediation activities if needed.
• Transmit Whistleblower and Whistleblower retaliation protection rights to employees.

Professional Education:

• Maintain competence in clinical, administrative and leadership skills through participation in learning opportunities.
• Provide in-services and other learning opportunities for OT and Rehab staff and learners from other departments.
• Ensure supervisees' timely completion of assigned mandatory training.
• Support clinical fieldwork opportunities for OT trainees from accredited OT programs by conferring with the OT Clinical Education Specialist on student schedule.

Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm Monday-Friday or as determined by supervisor.
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 662-08894F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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.
• 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

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
The authority to set requirements is provided by 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(14).

Citizenship:
Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a)).

Education and/or Experience:
(1) The individual must meet at least one of the following requirements below:
(a) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) years of experience as an occupational therapist;
NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy.
OR
(b) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) full years of graduate education in a related field; NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that ACOTE would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy.
OR
(c) Master's Degree or higher in occupational therapy.
(2) Individuals must be a graduate of a degree program in occupational therapy approved by the ACOTE or predecessor organizations. This is inclusive of an internship (supervised fieldwork experience required by the educational institution). ACOTE is the only accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Degree programs may be verified by contacting the American Occupational Therapy Association website or at their office address: American Occupational Therapy Association, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220.

Foreign Graduates:
Graduates of foreign occupational therapy programs meet the requirements of subparagraph [3b(2)] if they have a current, full, active and unrestricted license referred to in subparagraph [3e] of this appendix.

Certification:
Candidates must possess a current NBCOT certification as an OT.

State Licensure:
Candidates must possess a full, current, and unrestricted state license, to practice occupational therapy in a state, territory or Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or in the District of Columbia.
Loss of Credential; An employee in this occupation who fails to maintain [the required state or territorial licensure and the NBCOT certification, both current and in good standing,] must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment.

Exceptions for the Graduate Occupational Therapist.
(1) OT graduates from an approved occupational therapy program [who otherwise meet the minimum qualification requirements,] but who do not possess NBCOT certification and/or state licensure, may be appointed, pending certification and/or licensure, as a graduate OT on a full-time temporary appointment not-to-exceed two years under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2).
(2) Graduate OTs may only be appointed at the GS-9 grade level and may not be promoted/converted to the GS-11 level until licensure and/or certification is obtained. For grades levels at or above the developmental GS-11 grade level, the OT must be certified and licensed.
(3) A graduate OT may provide care only under the direct supervision of a licensed OT who meets all state regulatory requirements.
(4) Temporary graduate OT appointments may not be extended beyond two years, or converted to a new temporary appointment.

Failure to Obtain Licensure/Certification.
In all cases, graduate OTs must actively pursue obtaining required credentials from the date of their appointment. The human resource office will notify the uncertified/unlicensed OT in writing of the requirement to obtain certification/licensure, the date by which the certification/license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming certified/licensed by the deadline date. The written notice must be provided prior to the entrance on duty date. Failure to obtain required credentials by the prescribed date will result in termination of employment.]

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/certification/registration [that are part of the basic requirements of this occupation]. 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) They may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
(2) If an OT who was retained under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee will lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
(3) OTs initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard, must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
(4) OTs 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.

Physical Requirements:
See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

English Proficiency:
Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Supervisory Occupational Therapist, GS-13

(1) Education, Experience, and Licensure. Completion of one year of experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level and directly related to the position being filled.

(2) Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
(a) Ability to balance multiple responsibilities, set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions.
(b) Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems to develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations and use data effectively to manage workload, quality performance, and productivity within the service.
(c) Skill in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers to include conflict resolution.
(d) Ability to utilize evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines in a professional area and to guide the staff in applying these tools.]

(3) Assignment. [Supervisory OTs at this level are generally found at complex facilities. The supervisory occupational therapist is responsible for the supervision, administrative management and direction of the occupational therapy program in an OT section or equivalent work group. They have oversight for planning and directing the staff assignments in a variety of clinical settings. The supervisory OT provides a Veteran/client centered environment while enhancing staff engagement.

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:

• License
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• 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
• License
• Other (1)
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference:
Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

Next steps