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 is a PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT and is open All US Citizens.

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The CLS serves as a recognized expert and provides consultative services to management at all levels of the organization advising on various aspects of specialized testing, coordinating VISN or multi-facility specialized services including, but not limited to, quality management or laboratory information management (this list is not all-inclusive).

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

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

• Surgical Pathology Coordination & Operations
  • Serve as a recognized expert in Surgical Pathology, independently and collaboratively coordinating daily operations across multiple facilities within the VISN, ensuring high-quality, efficient, and compliant pathology services.
  • Adapt traditional and advanced diagnostic methods to handle complex, unique, or unknown cases, leveraging a thorough understanding of gross pathology and laboratory techniques.
  • Participate in tissue specimen processing, accessioning, grossing, intraoperative frozen section procedures, and autopsy activities, ensuring specimen integrity and adherence to accreditation standards.
  • Lead workflow orchestration, design and implement process improvements, evaluate outcomes, and drive re-engineering initiatives to enhance service delivery and operational efficiency.
  • Evaluate and resolve unacceptable or problematic specimens, prioritizing tissue processing to support timely patient care while balancing educational and training missions.
  • Examine and describe gross surgical specimens, identify abnormalities, and select appropriate sections for microscopic examination, diagnosis, and staging, providing consultative support on complex cases.
  • Order or perform special procedures (e.g., special stains, flow cytometry, photography), maintain teaching collections, and resolve pathology-related operational issues, contributing to continuous quality improvement initiatives.
• Medical & Continuing Education
  • Lead and participate in the education and training of residents, medical students, technologists, and technicians in Surgical and Autopsy Pathology, fostering expertise and compliance with best practices.
  • Develop and adapt educational materials, organize resident rotation goals, and instruct on specimen examination, dissection, sampling, and processing techniques, ensuring alignment with organizational standards and accreditation requirements.
  • Represent Pathology in interdisciplinary conferences, presenting autopsy and surgical pathology cases, and collaborating with clinical teams to enhance diagnostic accuracy and clinical integration.
  • Provide education to healthcare workers outside of Anatomic Pathology regarding specimen handling, testing protocols, and quality standards.
• Anatomic Pathology Protocol Development
  • Maintain, develop, and revise pathology protocols to incorporate emerging technologies and best practices, ensuring compliance with accreditation and regulatory agencies.
  • Monitor laboratory service quality, identify deficiencies, and recommend or implement corrective actions and process improvements to optimize patient care and operational efficiency.
  • Lead or contribute to multi-facility or VISN-wide specialized service coordination, ensuring consistency, quality, and compliance across sites.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; Daytime Hours, Occasional Calls/Holidays
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of 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: Not eligible
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000

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.
• 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

All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to clearly demonstrate your experience in your application package may result in disqualification. All applicants are encouraged to submit responses to each Knowledge, Skill, and Ability (KSA) on a separate document.

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: A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university.
• Certification:
  • Candidates must meet one of the certification options below.
    • Generalist certification as an MLS given by ASCP BOC or AMT.
    • Generalist certification as an MT given by ASCP BOR or AMT.
    • Categorical certification or Specialist certification by ASCP or AMT.
  • NOTE: Categorical and specialist certifications are not acceptable for CLS Generalist positions or lab sections unrelated to the categorical or specialist certification held. Categorical or specialist certifications are acceptable for higher-graded positions within the relevant lab section or one of the non-section specific assignments (including, Ancillary Testing Coordinator, Education Coordinator, Laboratory Information Manager, Quality Manager, Laboratory Manager, Regional Technical Specialist, National Quality and Compliance Agent, Regional Program Manager, Regional Director, Laboratory Director, or National Quality and Compliance Officer).
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Graduates of foreign baccalaureate degree programs meet the educational requirements if they meet either of the following:
  • Foreign transcripts are evaluated by an acceptable evaluation agency, and the degree is found to be equivalent to a NAACLS-approved U.S. clinical laboratory science degree program. -OR-
  • The applicant submits a letter from ASCP BOC or AMT stating the individual is eligible to take the certification examination.
    • NOTE: Possession of a certification identified in 4c above automatically determines the foreign education as creditable and no further documentation or proof of equivalency is needed.
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403 (f).

Grade Determination:GS-13:

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, which is directly related to the duties of the position to be filled, and must fully meet the KSAs at that level. This would be experience which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities (listed below) to fully perform at that grade level. GS-12 experience is defined as:

1. Knowledge and understanding of concepts, principles, methodology of medical laboratory technology, regulatory and accrediting agency requirements, medico-legal requirements, and pertinent statistics sufficient to perform complex diagnostic tests.
2. Knowledge of instructional techniques to instruct newly hired clinical laboratory scientists and clinical pathology residents in proper performance of tests and applications of laboratory procedures.
3. Knowledge of one or more advanced clinical laboratory functions.
4. Skill to apply new scientific/technical developments to develop procedures for new tests and modify existing procedures and methods to resolve problems relative to complex and difficult situations.
5. Ability to provide guidance and technical direction to accomplish the work of a clinical laboratory.
6. Ability to provide guidance and technical direction to accomplish the work of the specific laboratory section.

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

1. Knowledge of regulatory and accrediting agency requirements, concepts, principles, and practices of medical technology sufficient to perform the full range of duties involved in planning, coordinating, and evaluating laboratory services.
2. Knowledge of compliance requirements sufficient to provide direction for complex diagnostic testing.
3. Knowledge of laboratory information systems to accomplish diagnostic laboratory work and quality assurance.
4. Skill in evaluating, interpreting, and teaching others to use quality control procedures to monitor variables that affect quality of services and implement corrective actions.
5. Ability to apply laws, policies, precedents, regulatory, licensing, and accrediting requirements to establish, monitor, and maintain the specialized testing.
6. Ability to develop new test procedures and modify existing procedures and methods to resolve problems relative to complex and difficult situations.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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.

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.