Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• The Supervisory Health Technician (Ophthalmology) is responsible for the supervision, administrative management, direction of ophthalmology staff, and supervises interactions of Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) with affiliate ophthalmology residents.
• May be delegated full administrative and professional responsibility for planning and directing the ophthalmology staff activities for the service or equivalent unit at an independent outpatient clinic.
• Has full supervisory responsibility over a section or equivalent work unit
• Typical duties include preparing work assignments, monitoring clinical performances of ophthalmology staff, volunteers, and/or students, conducting performance appraisals, and other clinical and administrative responsibilities to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center have been satisfied.
• Assures compliance and accrediting agency and regulatory requirements, and the quality management program, assuring corrective action is initiated as needed.
• Assures orientation and competency assessment of assigned staff.
• Develops policies and procedures; manages document control; develops performance standards, position descriptions and functional statements; and is responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area to include budget execution.
• Maintains interdepartmental relations with other services to accomplish medical center goals.
• May have overall responsibility for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivered by the program and overall delivery of healthcare within the facility, or coordination of non-VA care as appropriate.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 14374-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
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 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

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.

Experience and Education:

• Experience: One year of experience in a health care field, such as but not limited to nursing, medical assistant, or health technician.

OR

• Education: Two years above high school with a minimum of six semester hours directly related to a health care field or associate's degree in a health care related degree.

OR

• Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. Examples are listed below:
• Six months of experience in the health care field; and one year above high school; or
• Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or ophthalmology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces; or
• Six months of experience in the health care field and completion of an independent study course in Ophthalmic Medical Assisting.

Certification: All applicants must be certified as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) with the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO). The COA certification is JCAHPO's entry-level certification examination for a Health Technician (Ophthalmology).

Grade Requirements: In addition to the basic requirements for employment in section A, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-10
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA). In addition to meeting the all KSAs for the GS-10 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate the potential to acquire the assignment-specific KSA designated by an asterisk (*).
1. Ability to work independently to set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within the service;
2. Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests, and provide workload analysis in Ophthalmology Service;
3. Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team members, managers and other departments; and
*4. Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which includes responsibility for assignment of work to be performed; competency assessments; performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions.


Creditable Experience.
1. Knowledge of Current Health Technician (Ophthalmology) Practice. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with a health care field or knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the current occupation. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment in the health care field.
2. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to Health Technician (Ophthalmology) experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) 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.
3. Part-time Experience. Part time experience as a Health Technician (Ophthalmology) is creditable according to its relationship to the full time work week. For example, a Health Technician (Ophthalmology) employed 20 hours per week, or on a ½ time basis, would receive 4 one full-time work week credit for each two weeks of service.

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).

Preferred Experience: Prior Supervisory experience
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and 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.