Clarification from the agency

NOTE: THE 2-PAGE RESUME REQUIREMENT DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS OCCUPATIONAL SERIES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, REFER TO REQUIRED DOCUMENTS BELOW. The area of consideration will be referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent Other Federal Agency employees 2. Veterans 3. US Citizens - Public

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Functions or Scopes of Assigned Duties

• Serves as a Chaplain professional providing comprehensive, religious ministry services to Veteran patients.
• Serves as professional clinical Chaplain in Inpatient/Outpatient Mental Health specialty clinics
• Provides extended and intensive pastoral counseling as an integral part of the treatment program with patients.
• Ensures program effectiveness and modification of service pattern.
• Serves as a Chaplain representative. Advises and collaborates with others to provide comprehensive healthcare services.
• Maintains effective rapport with physicians, medical officers, psychologists, nurses, therapists, social workers, or others. Ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to Veterans and provides the highest quality of care. Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs.
• Conducts comprehensive religious services and worship, pastoral ministry, and administration.
• Leads various complex and sensitive projects, task groups, and assignments.
• Engages as a spiritual leader, a compassionate listener, and counselor. Provides emotional support and counseling.
• Ensures various complex assignments are carried out in a pluralistic environment.
• Provides thorough spiritual leadership, offers prayers, and provides overall religious services for Veteran patients, patient families, staff, and community.
• Addresses the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical problems of patients and staff. Conducts regular rounds of hospital wards where patients are critically ill.
• Ministers to newly admitted, pre- and post-operative patients, the critically ill, and the families of concerned patients.
• Provides pastoral ministry with respect to the patient's faith group. Ascertains Veterans are protected from proselytizing and coercing from any source.
• Engages in group consultative discussions to collaborate on the evaluation and review of the patient's progress.
• Uses thorough knowledge of different faiths to perform various religious rituals, lead prayers, and answer spiritual questions.
• Provides guidance and support for patients to express values through processes such as life review, oral history, and end of life preparation and documentation.
• Provides pastoral counseling on medical and ethical matters.
• Counsels patients with long term health illness, mental health patients, and provides referrals for continuity of spiritual care.
• Creates staff development and wellness programs.
• Provides appropriate education and training to other healthcare staff.
• Conducts and arranges for religious worship services in chapels and at other locations for patients that are unable to attend regular chapel services.
• Interacts and maintains cooperative relationships with personnel, family, local clergy, individuals, and groups in the community.
• Provides all necessary religious worship services and instruction on an individual or group basis for major faith groups.
• Administers ordinances, rites or sacraments; prepares and delivers sermons; arranges for the atmosphere and symbolism of worship; and conducts funeral services.
• Completes various complex Chaplain related administrative assignments.
• Maintains records, supplies, and religious equipment.
• Provides routine personal visits, special visits, and new patient interviews.
• Conducts spiritual assessments. Creates plans for care in response to the moral injuries and spiritual distress of patients.
• Provides crisis intervention and stabilization.
• Collaborates with healthcare teams to create and update treatment plans to address spiritual distress, grief, and loss.
• Coordinates religious services in a manner which respects the faith traditions and religious expression of patients.
• Possesses a thorough knowledge of advance care planning to educate, inform, and counsel.
• Uses a sound working knowledge of Chaplain related expertise and the behavioral sciences.
• Maintains a good understanding of other medical professional disciplines and the latest developments in their fields.
• Possesses skills to educate and equip healthcare staff and trainees.
• Spends minimally 70% of time in patient care.
• Carries one of the following specialty certifications: Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, PTSD, Moral Injury or Suicide Prevention.

Work Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday, schedule negotiable
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.
• 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 evaluation.
• 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

NOTE: THE 2-PAGE RESUME REQUIREMENT DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS OCCUPATIONAL SERIES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, REFER TO REQUIRED DOCUMENTS BELOW.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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: Applicants must possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational qualifications as evidenced by a graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • NOTE: For applicants who do not possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational degree, an approved educational equivalency review from a nationally recognized board certification body for chaplains (see paragraph d) is acceptable.
• Ecclesiastical Endorsement: In accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 17.655, ecclesiastical endorsement is a condition of employment as a VA chaplain. An individual must possess and maintain a full and active ecclesiastical endorsement to be employed as a VA chaplain. Applicants must have an ecclesiastical endorsement, dated within the past 12 months. Ecclesiastical endorsements must be from the official national endorsing authority of the applicant's/employee's faith group or denomination. Ecclesiastical endorsement is a written official statement, by the official national endorsing body of the faith group or denomination, certifying that the applicant is in good standing with the applicant's faith group or denomination; and stating that the individual is, in the opinion of the endorsing body, qualified to perform the full range of ministry required in the VA pluralistic setting. Loss of endorsement will result in removal from the GS-0060 Chaplain series and may result in termination of employment. The National Chaplain Service maintains a list of approved endorsing organizations that can be found here: National VA Chaplain Service SharePoint.
• Board Certification: Certification. Applicants must be a Board-Certified Chaplain certified by BCCI ® or a U.S. certifying body that has a reciprocity agreement with BCCI ®. Board Certification that requires 4 units of CPE is qualifying. The National Chaplain Service maintains a list of approved certifications found on the National VA Chaplain Service SharePoint.
  • NOTE: Provisional or Associate or other status as a candidate for board certification does not meet the board certification requirement for the FPL GS-11 or above.
  • Loss of Credential: Management officials, in collaboration with HR Office staff must immediately relieve employees who fail to maintain any of the required certifications (board certification, ecclesiastical endorsement, or when applicable a speciality certification) of the duties and responsibilities associated with this occupation which may also result in separation from employment.
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be submitted to a current affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) at https://www.naces.org/members and be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations:

Chaplain, GS-12

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Specialty Certification: Specialty certification is demonstrated advanced practice and/or specialization in chaplaincy beyond the board certification and is required for the GS-12 grade level. Specialty certification from a professional chaplain certifying body that is directly related to the assignment is qualifying for a senior chaplain assignment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to apply relevant theories and methodologies to their ministry specialty.
• Ability to integrate specialized psychological and sociological theory with an advanced approach to spiritual care.
• Skill to seek out primary research and research literature that informs the ministry specialty and one's spiritual care practice.
• Skill in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of chaplain practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
• Ability to mediate conflict, hold various emotions and diffuse moral distress among staff and complex crisis situations.
• Ability to provide specialized consultation, teaching and mentoring to colleagues and students on advanced spiritual care interventions in the service delivery area.
• Ability to apply advanced clinical knowledge to write policies, procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.

Assignment: For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. This assignment is a senior chaplain. Senior chaplain assignments may include serving at a facility in clinical settings where there is limited access to onsite supervision such as small health care systems, Community Based Outpatient Clinics, other Federal agencies or satellite outpatient clinics. Senior chaplains typically practice in a specialized program area, that may include intensive and extended pastoral counseling as an integral part of the treatment program, with patients facing complex moral, ethical, or spiritual problems. The senior chaplain may be assigned administrative responsibility to independently develop and implement programs and curriculum. They are accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns, which may include research and leadership of clinical teams. The senior chaplain works with full understanding of its relationship to the objectives of the institution, and to successfully integrate it with the work of the institutional staff, collaborates with and advises the other senior members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior chaplain provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned chaplain staff. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and should not be used as the FPL of this occupation.

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: This work requires moderate lifting (15-44lbs) and hearing (aid may be permitted). Environmental factors are working alone and in protracted or irregular hours of work.

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.