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 VA Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Health Care system employees.

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Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• The Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) provides an array of complex and specialized duties related to leadership, staff education, technology management, as well as project and program management for all dimensions of virtual care and telehealth initiatives. In addition to lead duties, the incumbent maintains responsibility for day-to-day operation of telehealth services at the assigned location and between the assigned location and remote sites of care as well as participating in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide telehealth program. The incumbent is expected to be able to exercise independent judgement and is responsible to regularly provide oversight and guidance to other staff members and will require minimal direct supervision.
• Higher-level duties associated with this lead-level position may include:
  • Leading a team of telehealth staff by providing guidance and technical direction relating to the telehealth program;
  • Working with the supervisor to develop assignments for team members in order to meet routine and unusual deadlines and priorities;
  • Distributing and balancing workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization and required rotations;
  • Serving as the work leader, monitors the status and progress of team members' work and makes day-to-day adjustments in accordance with established priorities;
  • Giving on-the-job training to new employees (local and at the CBOC sites). Instructing employees in specific tasks and job techniques, making available written instructions and reference materials for use by team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects;
  • Monitoring and reporting on the status and progress of work to ensure that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines and quality have been met;
  • Providing information to the supervisor concerning promotions, reassignment, recognition of outstanding performance, and personnel needs;
  • Reporting to the supervisor on training needs of employees and conduct or performance issues;
  • Resolving simple, informal complaints of employees and referring others, such as formal grievances and appeals, to the supervisor or an appropriate management official;
  • Using a needs assessment, service agreements and other tools, collaborating with stakeholders to develop new programs and processes to ensure telehealth programs are meeting the strategic plans of the healthcare system;
  • Identifying and recommending ways of eliminating, combining, simplifying procedures and processes of the telehealth program. Supporting efforts to effect necessary change;
  • Independently reviewing quality and performance data (e.g. patient satisfaction surveys, image quality, performance metrics, clinic wait times) for Telehealth programs effectiveness and satisfaction and developing process improvements as required;
  • Coordinating with vendors, Biomed and IT to upgrade and or replace Telehealth technologies to minimize impact on patient care;
  • Developing and coordinating a wide variety of standard operating procedures with full and complete technical advice to ensure telehealth operations are timely, efficient, and appropriate;
  • Providing standardized developed competency based training for telehealth technology, facilitating interactive simulations for clinical staff participating in telehealth programs;
    

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): 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
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.
• Must be able to possess a valid drivers license.
• 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: A candidate will not be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. See chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.
• Experience and Education:
  • Experience: One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical assistant (or technician) or health technician. OR
  • Education: Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation. OR
  • Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples are listed below:
    • Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as, biological science, surgical technician courses, nursing assistant or other courses related to the position; or an associate's degree in a health care related field; or
    • Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, or medical service specialists given by the U.S. Armed Forces

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:

Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-8:

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7).
  • GS-7 Level Experience includes the following:
    • Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems.
    • Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement.
    • Ability to function effectively between competing priorities.
    • Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment.
    • Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a health technician in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work.
    • Ability to assist in Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) development, outcome management and strategic planning.
    • Ability to perform successful knowledge transfer regarding the use of telehealth technologies.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
  • Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work.
  • Skill in leadership and interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, providers, and managers.
  • Ability to communicate effectively in order to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels.
  • Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement.
  • Skill in the assessment and resolution of complex workload capture issues using multiple data sources.
  • Ability to develop and compose complex written instructions.
  • Knowledge of analytical and evaluative processes to independently resolve complex issues.

Preferred Experience: Experience with NWI personnel and telehealth modalities.

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-8. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-8

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.

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.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order.

1. Current permanent VA employees of the NWI VA Health Care System.

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.