Clarification from the agency

Area of Consideration: Open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employee of other agencies and all US Citizens (Public). NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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This position is located in the Audiology section of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. The duties and responsibilities are carried out throughout the medical center including all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the service. In addition to the duties and responsibilities at the GS-12 grade level, the audiologist at this level is engaged in advanced clinical practice. At this grade level is an advanced practice independent licensed practitioner and must demonstrate ability to apply advanced audiologic knowledge, theories, and techniques to a full range of complex patient populations.

Major Duties:

• Manages the thorough evaluation of tinnitus patients following the Progressive Tinnitus Management model to include otoacoustic emissions, handicap self surveys and tinnitus loudness/pitch matching.
• Hearing aid(s), masking device(s) and appropriate sound therapy systems as necessary.
• Facilitates the conservation of auditory function by the implementation of environmental and hearing conservation programs at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center to include computerizing baseline -to-shift data for hearing loss, determining potential liability for tinnitus/hearing loss claims, mentoring physicians, safety, and nursing staff regarding noise induced hearing loss.
• Performs and interpret site of lesion, special auditory and electrophysiological tests including complex speech tasks and otoacoustic emissions to a full range or patient populations.
• Administers and coordinate ototoxicity assessment.
• Provides baseline and comparative audio metrics for early detection of drug-induced hearing loss.
• Formulates, plans and provides counseling and auditory training to include strategies for optimizing remaining hearing, hearing aids and assistive listening devices appropriate to the needs of the patient and the patient's age and overall communication, physical, cognitive and psychological status.
• Provides orientation and training to new staff. Manages training and education of audiology technician.
• Adheres to all VA protocol procedures and provide opinions on the relationship between conditions and military service when requested.
• Keep current with theory and practice through continuing education programs, journals, textbooks, and other literature, and in-service programs.

Work Schedule: Tuesday- Friday,7:00am-5:30pm,
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 03751F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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 identification 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

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

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• Education: Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). HR office staff and management officials may verify a program's accreditation from ACAE at acaeaccred.org and CAA at caa.asha.org. OR (2) Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Licensure: Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• English Language Proficiency: Audiologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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).

In addition to the basic requirement above, candidates must have the following experience and demonstrate the required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) as per the below.

GS-13 LEVEL GRADE REQUIREMENTS
Specialized Experience (Advanced Practice): At least two (2) years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-12). Experience is only creditable if it is postdoctoral experience performing the duties of a professional audiologist and must be directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be comparable to or exceed professional audiology experience at the next lower level.

In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level ,the following KSAs are required:
(a) Advanced knowledge in a focused area of contemporary audiology practice to provide oversight of a specialty program.
(b) Skill to evaluate the specialty program to ensure deadlines and goals are met.
(c) Skill to coordinate initiatives and build consensus among interdisciplinary team members.
(d) Ability to monitor and report on work progress in the specialty program to adjust workload and processes.
(e) Ability to serve as the SME and provide education relating to the specialty program.

Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time work week. For example, an audiologist employed 20 hours per week or on a half-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Part II Appendix G29, Audiologist Qualification Standards, dated March 18,2024.

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

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

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.

Area of Consideration-Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facililty.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Current permanent Federal employee of other agencies.
4. All other applicants.

NOTE: Veteran's preference is not applicable to VA employees or employees of other Federal agencies.