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 Department of Veteran Affairs employees, employees of the El Paso VA Health Care System AND Past, Current and Upcoming participants of the VA Health Professions Training (HPT) Graduate Programs.

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The supervisor is responsible for the leadership and administrative management of the assigned services in pharmacy operation. The Pharmacy Service supports a wide variety of outpatient specialty medical programs such as various surgical specialties, nursing home, mental health discharge, migraine clinics, pain management clinic, and community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs). Duties encompass oversight of pharmacy medication procurement, storage, and distribution, drug information services, patient education services, and participation in training of pharmacy students and residents in rotation learning opportunities. The facility supports national/regional/network programs and is fully affiliated with educational programs that include pharmacy students and a pharmacy residency.

The supervisor will serve as a consultant for Pharmacy Service in evaluating health care delivery to patients. This includes facilitating the delivery of patient care in collaboration with other health professionals, health managers and other health care personnel. In this capacity, the supervisor operates with a broad delegation of authority to coordinate all aspects of the pharmacy service within their area of responsibility. In order to accomplish this, the incumbent will need management experience with pharmacy policy and procedures, and a broad knowledge base of the various phases of the full-spectrum pharmacy service.

The supervisor will be responsible for ensuring the pharmacy is compliant with all regulatory and accrediting bodies, developing policies and procedures, developing functional statements, setting performance standards, evaluating performance, recommending appointments, recommending awards/advancements, recommending disciplinary action, counseling employees, and identifying training/educational requirements.

The supervisor will be responsible for all day-to-day operations to ensure optimal pharmaceutical care and customer service through the assignment of duties, monitoring of performance, overseeing aggregate workload, identifying backlogs, and making staffing adjustments as needed to meet organizational goals. The incumbent will oversee/participate in activities that may include but are not limited to outpatient prescription processing/dispensing, managing controlled substance distribution and accountability, consultation/counseling, training/education, telehealth care, pharmacy inventory, supply management, time/attendance management/monitoring, and budgetary oversight.

Work Schedule: Fulltime, Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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).
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.
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 #: Pharmacy Supervisor (Outpatient)

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 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
• Education : Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree.
• Foreign Education: Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
• Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure.

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:
Pharmacy Supervisor, GS-13
Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Responsible for the professional and administrative management of an assigned area in pharmacy service, to include budgetary execution. Such individuals have responsibilities for supervising multiple pharmacists and technicians. Manages people, maintains effective interdepartmental relations, and cooperates with other services to accomplish the medical facility's mission and goals. Develops performance standards, assures that the program area is compliant with all regulatory and accrediting body requirements, designs and implements orientation and training programs for staff, and develops and maintains systems to monitor the performance of staff activities. Develops policies and procedures relative to their assigned area.

Demonstrated KSAs. Pharmacists assigned to this position must also demonstrate the following KSAs:
(1) Ability to effectively supervise subordinate staff.
(2) Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
(3) Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards pertaining to pharmacy.
(4) Skill in managing people or programs.

For Reference experience at the GS-12 grade level are:
Assignment. A pharmacist in this assignment handles routine medication-related activities in accordance with local, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and national policies and regulations. These include, but are not limited to: reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care; reviewing the patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems; contacting providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; taking health and medication histories; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs); assisting in medical emergencies; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution.


Preferred Experience:

• Three to five years supervisory experience leading and training pharmacists, technicians, and administrative staff in high volume pharmacy.
• Three to five years of experience in writing standard operating procedures in outpatient or inpatient pharmacy setting.
• Three to five years of direct experience in projects geared toward patient safety, efficiency, and customer service.
• Three to five years of experience as a preceptor of pharmacy students and or pharmacy residents.
• Exceptional customer service record and ability to resolve conflicts and disputes between employees or customers and employees.
• Experience in working with various teams or services for the common good of the patient.

Reference can be found at the VA Qualification Repository, VA Qualifications Standards - Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) GS-0660, Pharmacist Qualification Standard, dated June 7, 2012.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: light lifting and light carrying (under 15 pounds), reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (2 hours), standing (2 hours), repeated bending (1 hour), ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable to 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, hearing (aid may be permitted) and hearing without aid.

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 WILL 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.