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 announcement is open to current permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

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VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties are but not limited to:
A. VEEP Coordination:
Primary responsibilities involve functioning as the Employee Experience Coordinator, requiring conducting analyses and presenting findings and recommendations for action to the Section Chief, Veteran and Employee Experience Program. The social worker assists with research or quality improvement projects within the broader VEEP initiatives as needed. Incumbent prepares and contributes to reports and other presentations on Veteran and Employee program planning and evaluation. Incumbent designs and conducts a wide variety of comprehensive management studies and reviews. Organizes assigned projects; plans, coordinates, and directs team study work. Selects qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies appropriate to the subject under examination.

Provides consultation and coaching to senior leadership, mid-level managers, frontline supervisors to streamline work processes, build higher-performing work teams, and improve employee-management communication workplace relationships and employee satisfaction.

Incumbent is responsible for analyzing Veteran perception feedback through various tools to include Survey of Health Care Experiences of Patients, Veteran Signals (VSignals), and the Patient Advocate Tracking system (General complaints, Congressional, White House Hotline). Incumbent is the primary contact for the health care system's annual All Employee Survey (AES).

B. Veteran and Employee engagement Duties:
The incumbent is responsible to the Section Chief, Veteran and Employee Experience Program for the development and implementation of the Employee Engagement program. Serves as the subject matter expert in employee engagement, human capital issues, systemic issues/dynamics, and human/organizational change processes. Leverages this expertise to improve organizational and employee performance and effectiveness.

Responsible to implement toolkits provided by National Center for Organizational Development. Provides oversight and scheduling of employee benefits fairs such as employee wellness and health insurance benefits. Develops employee/ community partnerships and employee volunteer opportunities. Incumbent may be involved with the implementation of shared governance at Service and unit levels to empower front-line employees.

The incumbent is responsible to the Deputy Executive Medical Center Director for the development and implementation of the Veteran and Employee engagement programs and creates a culture focused on Veteran Centric initiatives and developing all employees into engagement Champions within the organization.

C. Employee Recognition, Workforce Development, and Veteran Engagement:
The incumbent will support initiatives designed to recognize employees for milestones in their careers and accomplishments in their lives. These include Service Pins, retirements, Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year, educational achievements, professional certification, modeling ICARE (Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence) values, and national awards and recognition.
The incumbent will be heavily involved with overseeing New Employee Orientation for the entire Health Care System, curating content, presenters, schedules, venues, and logistics. Workforce development will operate a New Employee Buddy Program pairing new employees with seasoned staff to provide a seamless transition to VA and NTHCS as well as a DoD to VA employee transition program. Incumbent will oversee employee exit interviews from staff who resign, retire, or otherwise separate from NTHCS employment to gather and analyze feedback related to bright spots and pain points of employment within NTHCS

Work Schedule: 7:30am- 4pm or 8am- 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: ad-hoc only
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 54408-F

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.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education: Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http:// vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
• Exception. VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline.]

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).

GS-13: Social Worker (Program Coordinator)
Experience/Education: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidates may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.

Licensure/Certification: Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Advanced practice level social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which includes an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
(a) Skill in coordinating and implementing one or more specialty program(s), across the facility.
(b) Skill in local policy and practice development, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program as prescribed by the program handbook or national directive.
(c) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
(d) Ability to collaborate with internal and external partners to further program goals and enhance patient centered care.
(e) Ability to provide the full range of supervisory duties including assignment of work to be performed; performance evaluations; and selection of staff, training, and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary action.
(f) Ability to oversee the fiscal matters of the functions supervised (including fund controls, contracts, and equipment expenditures), forecast resource and equipment needs, and administer the allocated budget.
(g) Knowledge of organizational structure and impact on program operations.

Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At this grade level, social worker program coordinators oversee the administrative and clinical aspects of a major specialty treatment program, such as, but not limited to: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Home-Based Primary Care, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Caregiver Support Program or Transition and Care Management Program, or a combination of programs located at one facility or multiple divisions of a facility. They are responsible for coordinating interdisciplinary staffing, work assignments, budget, treatment services provided, and admission criteria for the program.

Preferred Experience:

• Full, unrestricted license for the practice of Social Work from a US State or Territory.
• Experience in cultural transformation in a healthcare setting.
• Training in Evidence Based Psychotherapies relevant to the management of psychological safety.
• Experience in overseeing organizational Leadership Development, Employee Recognition, Employee Engagement and Workforce Development programs.
• Experience using sociological assessment tools.
• Experience providing crisis intervention and case management services.

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-13.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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.