Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent Federal Employees only. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Effectively coordinates, manages, completes and documents the purchasing of all prescription and nonprescription drug products and pharmaceutical supplies.
• Works to ensure that inventory levels of medications and medical supplies are managed so that patient care is not impaired due to insufficient stock or the unavailability of a therapeutic alternative.
• Utilizes the prime vendor for contracted prescription drug products.
• Proceeds to open market vendors for items not available through the prime vendor. Assures that vendor delivery schedules support the needs of the Pharmacy.
• Coordinates with management when necessary concerning drug unavailability and items not received or backordered.
• Establishes processes and procedures for borrowing items from local pharmacies/hospitals and other VA pharmacies on an emergency basis, and ensures their safe transport to the medical center.
• Analyzes market and delivery systems in order to assess present and future material availability, and coordinates orders that support cost-effective and timely product availability.
• Investigates and resolves shipping and receiving errors from vendors and suppliers in compliance with the medical center's fiscal policies.
• Reports and resolves discrepancies and reconciles orders in a timely manner.
• Ensures compliance with all controlled substance rules and regulations as defined by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the VHA Controlled Substance Handbook.
• Serves as a Designated Government Purchase Card holder, a Designated Power of Attorney for the DEA's Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS), and a Designated Ordering Officer for all pharmaceutical prime vendor contracts.
• Maintains documentation and accountability of daily purchases and coordinates product receipt and budget ledger/control point management.
• Independently manages pharmacy control points and accounts for purchase expenditures to ensure department budgetary compliance.
• Provides pharmacy supervisors with control point information when they're approval is needed per policy.
• Maintains a complete and current record keeping and retrieval system.
• Routinely completes purchase card reconciliations consistent with the medical center's fiscal policies.
• Assists the pharmacy's cost initiatives in drug cost analysis to assure continuing budgetary compliance and cost-effective product availability.
• Provides pharmacy supervisors cost usage analyses of high cost medications to identify the inpatient and outpatient high usage areas and prescribing trends.
• Prepares budget projections based upon usage trends affecting expenditures.
• Oversees the department's product recall procedures and works with medical center staff to coordinate product removals and alternative product purchases.
• Ensures that stock is dispersed into designated storage areas with appropriate shelf labeling and consistent with storage requirements based on VA, OSHA, US Pharmacopoeia, and Joint Commission standards.
• Isolates and secures expired medications until processing by the department's reverse distributor.
• Routinely processes outdated controlled and non-controlled substances for reverse distribution for credit or
• Arranges for the proper disposal of outdated/damaged/unusable drugs.
• Coordinates departmental inventories as assigned including aligning inventory in various sections of the pharmacy, resolving discrepancies, preparing reports and submitting final reports to management for areas of responsibility.
• Makes pharmacy personnel aware of drug shortages and recalls and removes recalled items from the pharmacy and patient care areas and makes provision for their removal from the medical center.
• Reviews and updates all Pharmacy Service policies pertaining to procurement of medications, medical supplies and pharmacy consumables.
• Generates budget, cost analysis, hazardous waste, GEMS and other reports as needed.
• Assists with the training, orientation and re-training of employees to Pharmacy Service procurement policies and procedures.
• Ensures all pharmaceutical and supply invoices are signed and dated to document receipt and ensures that there is a separation of duties between the individual who placed the order and the individual who checked in the order/signed the invoice for receipt.
• Assists pharmacy COR with administrative functions related to pharmacy contracting.
• Oversees and maintains VA Mandated ScriptPro Inventory Management Tool.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor based on staffing and workload.
• Performs all the duties of lower graded technicians, if required.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm or 8:30am - 5:00pm
Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Not Authorized.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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 may be required to serve a 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 or Experience:
  • None required.
  • For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
• Certification: For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  • Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR
  • National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).

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: In addition to the basic requirements for appointment, VA HR staff must use the following criteria to determine the appropriate grade assignment of candidates.

Pharmacy Technician (Procurement/Inventory), GS-09:

• Experience: One year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the lower grade level.
• Certification: For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  • PTCB as a CPhT. OR
  • NHA as a ExCPT.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience and certification above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated:
  • Expert knowledge serving as a key resource advising others in their particular specialty area or section of the pharmacy (such as procurement, sterile compounding (USP compounding standards), controlled substances DEA, automation, clinical pharmacy, lead tech, contact center, etc.).
  • Skill in analyzing data for self-driven (independent) performance improvement projects, workload analysis and statistical reports.
  • Skill in solving problems and implementing corrective actions to maximize outcomes in their program area.
  • Ability to maintain special accreditations and prepare for national reviews/inspections (e.g., The Joint Commission, Inspector General, American Society of Health System Pharmacists®, controlled substance inspections).
  • Ability to develop training programs and material for orientation, competency development and educational needs for regulatory requirements within the specialized pharmacy program area.
  • Knowledge of pharmaceutical and supply inventory requirements to ensure compliance with regulations and national/audit/inspections (e.g., financial regulations, The Joint Commission, Inspector General, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists®, DEA, USP 797/800, FDA 503A/B).
  • Knowledge of clinical specifications, characteristics and ordering processes of a wide variety of soft prosthetics and supply items (e.g., catheters, colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy supply and associated products) that technicians procure to dispense to Veterans in the outpatient pharmacy setting.
  • Skill in managing specialized programs related to inventory including, but not limited to, specialty medications and supplies, All Hazards Emergency Cache Program, recalls, reverse distribution and pharmaceutical waste.

Preferred Experience: Previous experience with pharmacy ordering and procurement.

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-09.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.

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.