Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current employees of the Western New York Healthcare System. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The incumbent is responsible for independent diagnostic assessment and evaluation of cases that are referred to Speech-Language Pathology without limitation as to difficulty or complexity. The incumbent will be responsible to conduct interviews with the patients and appropriate family members and/or friends, selects, administers and interprets the diagnostic test necessary to detect and evaluate any type of speech, language, voice, fluency, cognitive, and/or swallowing disorders.

The incumbent is responsible for the adequacy of assessment and for the reporting of the findings to other professional workers with whom he/she or other members of the Speech Language Pathology service may cooperate in formulating diagnostic and clinical judgments; assesses patient condition from close observation and consultation with other members of the inter-disciplinary health care team; and utilizing all diagnostic and evaluative procedures and techniques consistent with contemporary speech-language pathology practice.

Incumbent is responsible for planning, conducting, coordinating, and monitoring the effectiveness and clinical outcomes of patient-centered treatment and rehabilitative services to maximize and restore to the greatest extent possible physical and social functioning.

The incumbent is responsible for the administration of a full range tests of speech, language, voice, fluency, and cognition including modal level and variation of vocal pitch and loudness; variability of the rate of vocal utterance; frequency and complexity of speech disfluency; consistency and adaptation of disfluency in sustained or repeated speaking and aural reading; phonetic analysis of speech designed to identify and evaluate patterns
of misarticulation, such as distortions and omissions of sounds, as well as phonemic substitutions, including patterns of variation and speech sound articulation; and identification of phonetic and semantic factors related to this variation.

The incumbent develops an effective and comprehensive plan of care for swallowing disorders in collaboration with other health care practitioners; establishes and maintains an effective therapy relationship with the patient, family and caregivers; and adjusts treatment plan to patient response and indicators of progress. Incumbent serves as a consultant to other facility personnel involving the most difficult and complex cases and is a recognized subject matter expert on matters related to speech, language voice, fluency, cognitive, and swallowing disorders.

Incumbent will complete all documentation in accordance with facility policy.

The incumbent will remain current with new developments in speech-language pathology and will maintain professional competency by reading professional journals and engaging in continuing education activities and professional learning experiences and by communicating with other professionals in the profession and related professions.

Communication is required by this position and the incumbent will be expected to attend regular staff meetings and inter-disciplinary health care team meeting as appropriate; review policies and procedures and attend in service training.

The incumbent will assist in the supervising, mentoring, and precepting student trainees in speech-language pathology and maintaining liaisons with affiliated colleges and universities. He/she may also provide instruction to residents and interns who seek information relation to speech-language pathology practice.

The incumbent may perform ancillary assignments, including program management duties on an occasional basis, where the complexity and amount of the work is not substantial.

The incumbent is responsible for patient scheduling, assessment, goal setting, patient education, treatment implementation and discharge planning for patients referred to speech therapy.

The caseload is comprised of inpatients, outpatients and home-based patients with a marked diversity of physical and cognitive dysfunction.

The incumbent may complete assessment and treatment on patients in the speech therapy clinical area, in patient rooms of the medical center or in the home or in assisted living facilities.

The incumbent must demonstrate professional knowledge of, and skill in applying a wide range of theories, principles and methodologies for the practice of speech-language pathology to a wide range of populations.

The incumbent is an independent licensed practitioner.

The incumbent performs and interprets the results of tests and measurements of the patient's status in order to formulate an appropriate, comprehensive treatment plan.

The incumbent demonstrates the ability to treat patients with more complex medical problems utilizing both standard and non-standard techniques.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:00am-3:30pm
Telework: Not Authorized
Functional Statement #: 23996F
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

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.
  • (1) 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 (see paragraph 2.g.). or
  • (2) A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university.
• 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).

• 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. For 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) SLPs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level or changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
  • (2) If SLPs who are retained under this provision leave the occupation, they will lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
  • (3) SLPs initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard, must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment.
  • (4) SLPs 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.

Grade Determinations: Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-12.

• Experience. In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-11 level, completing one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower level and possessing a full, current and unrestricted license to practice speech-language pathology.
• AND
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • Skill in applying principles and techniques of diagnosis and treatment associated with contemporary speech-language pathology following evidence-based practice for adult patients exhibiting the full range of speech to the full range of patient populations.
  • Skill in administering and interpreting instrumental swallowing evaluations.
  • Ability to assess the effectiveness of clinical outcomes and adapt clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate unique patient conditions.
• Assignment. This is the full performance level. At this level, SLPs independently provide evidence-based assessment and treatment interventions to individuals with a wide range of speech, language, voice, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders. Staff SLPs select, administer and interpret standardized and non-standardized assessment measures. They integrate assessment findings into a patient-centered treatment plan of care and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions by collecting and documenting treatment outcomes. SLPs may be assigned to work in a specific clinical area such as traumatic brain injury, head and neck cancer, movement disorders or spinal cord injury. They may provide clinical training experiences for trainees and students and participate in research activities.

Preferred Experience: minimum 1 year acute care experience

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

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.

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.