The Executive Director leads the National Center for Ethics in Health Care (NCEHC) and serves as the principal advisor to the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Integrity (ADUSHI) and other VHA leaders on matters relating to health care ethics. NCEHC is VHA's primary office for addressing the complex ethical issues that arise in patient care, health care management, and research. Its mission is to clarify and promote ethical health care practices within VHA and nationwide. NCEHC activities support clinical ethics, organizational ethics, and research ethics. NCEHC proactively identifies, clarifies, and analyzes health care ethics issues, providing advice, guidance, and support to VHA leaders in VA Central Office and in field-based facilities and ethics programs. NCEHC's multidisciplinary staff consists of clinicians, ethicists, policy makers, and educators with Offices in VA Central Office and staff located throughout the nation.

The Executive Director is a Title 38 senior executive who uses demonstrated leadership skills, communication skills, health care ethics expertise, and knowledge of VA and national health care policy to advise, support and collaborate with the ADUSHI and other senior executive in VHA. Specific functions for the Executive Director include:

• • Serves as the principal advisor to the ADUSH for Integrity and other VHA leaders.
  • Implements and oversees programs, policies, and activities that are national in scope and that influence the overall organizational mission and strategy.
  • Initiates, designs and completes high visibility national projects to advance NCEHC's goals, with a focus on improvements in Veteran-centered care through, e.g., policy, ethics consultation, information technology, education, and resources for patients, family, and staff, as well as other approaches to enhance practice and culture.
  • Serves as a member of VHA's senior leadership structure, serving on various national committees.

NOTE: For Physicians - Applicant's education and length of practice (experience) will be considered by a Compensation Panel in determining the salary of the applicant selected. Exceptions to the salary cap must be approved.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 4-Year 7306 appointment with potential for re-appointment (not guaranteed)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/29/2019.

In order to qualify for this position you must meet the requirement for a Health Science Officer (601) or Physician (602) as follows:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH SCIENCE OFFICER 601

• Successful completion of a full Ph.D. course of study leading to a doctorate with a major study in an academic field related to biomedical, bioethics and/or health policy fields.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICIAN 602

• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study completed. Approved schools are: (1) Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted, or (2) Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted. (3) For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must verify with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that the applicant has met requirements for certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant.
• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training or its equivalent, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification. Approved residencies include those approved by the accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or American Osteopathic Association, or other residences which the Professional Standards Board determines to have provided appropriate professional training.
• Current, full, and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States or in the District of Columbia. The Physician must maintain a current registration to continue employment with the VA.

DEMONSTRATED LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE:

Applicants must possess extensive leadership experience in the health care arena sufficient to qualify for the equivalent of a senior executive equivalent position within the Federal service. In addition, the incumbent is broadly acquainted with clinical treatment modalities, administrative and clinical support systems and is knowledgeable about multifaceted health care delivery systems.

In addition to basic requirements, the following technical and executive core qualifications are required for this position. Typically, these qualifications would be gained through education, experience and training which reflect progressive development and achievement in responsible management/executive level assignments in health care at a national or Network level, equivalent positions in a hospital/network/regional office or allied medical care facility, or executive positions in an academic institution. An individual's total experience and education must demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of the position. If you are currently a federal employee, this type of experience is typically found at positions at the GS-15 level and above.

To meet the minimum qualifications, applicants must possess all of the necessary requirements for this position, you MUST SHOW in your RESUME that you possess the five Mandatory Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Technical Qualification(s) outlined below. Eligibility will be based on clear and concise accomplishments that emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments (with results), policy initiatives and level of contacts.

Applicants can obtain a sample resume along with additional information regarding the Executive Core Qualifications on the Internet at http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/qualify.asp.

A. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS:

• ECQ 1. LEADING CHANGE: Ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.
• ECQ 2. LEADING PEOPLE: Ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.
• ECQ 3. RESULTS DRIVEN: Ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
• ECQ 4. BUSINESS ACUMEN: Ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Applicants may focus on resource management, with particular emphasis on financial management (budget).
• ECQ 5. BUILDING COALITIONS: Ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. Applicants may demonstrate that they have external contacts as well as internal interactions.

B. TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQ):

• • Nationally recognized subject matter expert in health care ethics focusing on the practical issues that arise in health care organizations.
  • Extensive experience providing ethics consultation to health care administrators and or leaders.
  • Experience in health care ethics policy development, implementation, and oversight.
  • Experience in strategic planning, development, execution, and evaluation of large, complex agency programs.

REFERENCES: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-2 Physician Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

Preferred Experience:

1. Advises ADUSHI and other VHA officials on matters related to ethics in health care as an essential component of VA health care quality.
2. Effectively communicates the role of health care ethics; the mission, vision, goals, priorities of NCEHC; builds awareness of NCEHC as a national resource within VHA; and assists VHA staff at local, VISN and national levels in their work.
3. Supervises designated NCEHC staff and provides guidance, mentoring, coaching, feedback, and support to all NCEHC staff.
4. Represents VA on agency-wide and/or inter-agency committees, as assigned by the ADUSHI, Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Organizational Excellence, Under Secretary for Health, or Secretary.
5. Exhibits mastery of new and developing concepts in ethics related to health care delivery, management and research and applies these leading-edge concepts to programs and policies across VHA.

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 is clear and specific. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified; errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. Please follow all instructions carefully.

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; religious; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.