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 occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The primary duties of the Supervisory Speech Language Pathologist-Service Chief may include but are not limited to:

• Serves as a Service Chief; responsible for all professional, management and administrative aspects of the service or organizational entity.
• Overall responsible for a service-level organizational unit and has full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management and supervision for the service.
• Autonomously manages substantive parts of specialized, complex, professional services that significantly impact Veterans' care.
• Provides leadership with objective, independent assessments and recommendations for policy, operational and administrative issues and initiatives requiring decision and action.
• Monitors work performance to ensure that requirements are satisfied; interprets and processes a wide variety of data related to program planning and specialized needs of the Veterans, the service, and the medical center; and ensures policies or issues have been fully coordinated, vetted, and staffed.
• Advises executive leadership on implications, key issues, and relationships to interest groups (both internal and external) and recommend courses of action; coordinates and negotiates resolutions to complex problems.
• Assures compliance with accrediting agencies and regulatory requirements and corrective action is initiated as needed. Responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution.
• Maintains interdepartmental relationships with other services to accomplish medical center goals. 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.
• Develops policies and procedures and may develop performance standards, position descriptions and functional statements.
• Monitors the clinical performance of staff, conduct performance appraisals, and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center has been satisfied.
• May set training objectives for staff and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections.
• 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.
• Manages and directs the work of others to accomplish program goals and missions.
• Supervises, motivates, and effectively manages a diverse clinical staff applicable to a service level department in a large, complex, or multi-division facility.
• Responsible for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivered by the service.
• Develops, organizes, directs, manages, supervises, controls, and implements policies and procedures for complex service-level departments.
• Fully responsible for developing and directing educational and training programs; negotiating affiliation agreements with academic partners; and setting training objectives.
• 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 affecting all levels of disciplinary measures.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30 pm, subject to changed based on the needs of the facility.
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00941F
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.
• 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.
• Must be able to independently operate Government Vehicle.
• Must provide clean driving record report from the DMV during the pre-employment process.

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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
  or
  A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current and unrestricted license in a U.S.state, territory, commonwealth or the District of Columbia.

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:
Supervisory Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-14.

Experience. In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-13 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
(a) Skill to translate management goals and objectives into efficient service operations.
(b) Skill in providing clinical and administrative oversight of service operations within complex facilities and/or multiple sites.
(c) Skill in conflict resolution to facilitate positive working relationships between employees, team leaders and management.
(d) Ability to effectively collaborate with local, VISN and national leadership.

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

Preferred experience: 2 years supervisory experience.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS14.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

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
• Resume
• Transcript

Resume Requirement: Your resume must include the following information: Job title, description of duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment, and average hours worked per week.

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee

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.

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
• C.V/Resume
• Performance Appraisal
• 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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