Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This job is open to current permanent Department of Veterans Health Administration employees. Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees.

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• Serves as a Service Chief and has overall responsibility for a service-level department, or its organizational equivalent for a small or mid-sized facility. Responsible for general supervision of clinical and/or training programs, and overall technical and administrative oversight for operations within the service.
• Encompasses overall responsibility for the service-level department and full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management and supervision for the service, as appropriate; 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.
• Responsible for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure coordination between care delivered by the program and the overall delivery of health care within the facility; interprets and processes a wide variety of data related to program planning and the specialized needs of the Veteran, the service, and the medical center.
• Assures compliance with accrediting agency and regulatory requirements and corrective action is initiated as needed; ensures policies or issues have been fully coordinated, vetted, and staffed. Advises leadership on policy implications, key issues and relationships to internal and external interest groups and recommend courses of action.
• Maintains interdepartmental relationships with other services to accomplish medical center goals; coordinates and negotiates resolutions to complex problems. 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 as requested.
• Responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution. Develops policies and procedures and may develop performance standards, position descriptions and functional statements. Conducts performance appraisals and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities related to the management of staff to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center has been satisfied. May set training objectives and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections.
• Evaluates programs to ensure efficient and appropriate integration of care. Makes decisions that affect subordinate section or assistant chiefs (if applicable), clinical, and clerical staff, and other resources associated with the department and are made with great autonomy. Adapts to new and changing work conditions, contingencies, and staffing.
• Develops contingencies and aligns resources to achieve program goals. Translates management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled service operations. Fully responsible for developing and directing educational and training programs. Negotiates affiliation agreements with academic partners and sets training objectives.
• Effectively interprets and applies facility, VISN and national audiology and speech pathology services policies.
• Effectively creates service-level policies and priorities to align with facility strategic plan. Organizes work, sets priorities, delegates tasks, and manages and directs the work of others to accomplish program goals and missions. Establishes and monitors productivity standards and production and performance priorities. Applies administrative and human resources policies effectively; manages budgets for a service-level department in a small or mid-sized facility.
• Supervises professional staff. Supervises, motivates, and manages effectively a diverse clinical staff applicable to a service-level department in small or mid-sized facilities.
• Delegates responsibilities to subordinate section or assistant chiefs (if applicable); plans, schedules and assigns work; assures that production and accuracy requirements of completed work are met; appraises performance and recommends performance standards and ratings; assigns delineated clinical privileges; approves leave; and effects all levels of disciplinary measures.

Work Schedule: 0730-1600 Monday-Friday
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00000
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

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.
  1. 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). HR office staff and management officials may verify a program's accreditation from ACAE at acaeaccred.org and CAA at caa.asha.org. OR
  2. 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.
  • NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and 3 Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AUD programs in audiology.
• 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.
  1. The Under Secretary of Health, or designee, may appoint a candidate without a license who will be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. In such instances, HR office staff can only appoint these candidates in exceptional circumstances where their credentials demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.
  2. All audiologists who perform compensation and pension examinations perform direct patient care duties and must possess a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology and must meet the experience requirements under Section 2. D. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.85.

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 Audiologist, GS-13.

• Experience: At least two years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level.
  • GS-12 equivalent experience is demonstrated by: Licensed to practice independently in the provision of audiologic services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. Serves as a consultant to other health care professionals and recognized subject matter experts (SME) on matters related to hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders. May perform duties in different settings, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, hearing health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, compensation, and pension. Diagnoses audiologic disorders, conduct audiologic, or neuro-audiologic assessments; treat auditory disorders through various modalities; and provide adjunctive interventions for the treatment of medical disorders. Consult with other medical staff on various patient care issues. May be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group audiologic rehabilitation.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs identified below.
  1. Skill in conflict resolution to facilitate positive working relationships between employees, team leaders, and managers.
  2. Skill in applying evidence-based practices in a professional area.
  3. Ability to analyze organizational and operational challenges to develop and implement solutions.
  4. Ability to develop the abilities and strengths of current employees.
  5. Ability to balance responsibilities, set priorities, and delegate tasks to meet multiple deadlines.
  6. Ability to analyze data to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the section.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://department.va.gov/employees/va-qualifications-standards/.
Audiologist Qualification Standard

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.

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.