Clarification from the agency

Area of consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1st Area of Consideration - current permanent Hampton VA Medical Center employees; 2nd Area of Consideration - current permanent Veterans Healthcare Administration employees; 3rd Area of Consideration - current permanent VA Nationwide employees; and 4th Area of Consideration - all others.

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This position demonstrates a great deal of autonomy in performing responsibilities that include, but are not limited to the responsibility for planning and administering programs:

• Responsible for the supervision, administrative management, and clinical direction of the speech-language pathology program within the service-level department.
• Responsible for general or technical supervision of key clinical or training programs and overall technical and administrative oversight of speech-language pathologists depending on grade level.
• Provide clinical patient care as part of duties.
• Ensures orientation and training of new staff/trainees
• Provide assistance and ensures coverage of an onsite speech therapy presence within the Hampton VA enterprise.
• Develop and provide oversight of new programs to improve access and quality of care for Veterans.
• Provides orientation/training of medical staff/trainees.
• Ensures a dynamic training and supervision of students, trainees, and fellows, providing feedback on progress toward established educational goals.
• Develops, organizes, directs, manages, supervises, controls, and implements policies and procedures in focused clinical programs.
• Plans, assesses, and evaluates programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivery within the section or service and the overall delivery of health care.
• Responsible for independent diagnostic assessment and evaluation of cases that are referred for Speech Pathology Services without limitation as to difficulty or complexity.
• Conducts interviews with the patients and appropriate family members and/or friends, selects, administers and interprets the diagnostic test necessary to detect and evaluate any type of speech, language, voice and/or swallowing disorders.
• Communicate with customers in a manner that effectively projects a positive, cooperative image of the organization and treat all customers with courtesy, dignity and respect.
• Information and services provided to all customers shall be presented in a thorough and timely manner.
• Responsible for all clinical decisions under general oversight of the service chief or person of equivalent organizational rank

Work Schedule: 07:30am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:06170F
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.
• You may be required to serve a trial period.
• 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 dentification 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).

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:

• 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).
• English Language Proficiency. SLP candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education and Experience. A master's degree, or its equivalent, in speech-language pathology, communication disorders or a directly related field from an accredited college or university and one year of creditable experience. or

A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university

• Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current and unrestricted license in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth or the District of Columbia.

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, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-13

Experience. In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-12 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Skill to translate contemporary and evidence-based speech pathology practice knowledge into clinical procedures.
(b) Skill in effective conflict resolution.
(c) Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems to develop and implement solutions.
(d) Ability to provide clinical and administrative oversight and ensure that section activities are aligned with management goals and objectives.


Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Speech pathology section chiefs/supervisors at this level manage a speech-language pathology section within a larger service. Section chiefs/supervisors maintain 12 oversight of the section's diagnostic and rehabilitative speech pathology services. In addition, they implement policies and procedures consistent with management goals, objectives and the medical center mission. Section chiefs/supervisors set priorities and assign responsibilities to accomplish speech-language pathology section goals, ensuring proper coordination between care delivered by the section and the overall health care delivery within the facility. Section chiefs /supervisors maintain oversight for continuous performance improvement within the section. They perform supervisory duties, including initiating personnel actions, conducting performance management; planning, scheduling and assigning work; managing leave; assessing competency; appraising performance; and recommending clinical privileges or scope of practice.

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-13.

Physical Requirements: This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, and sitting. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must comply with any Employee Health requirements as a condition of employment.

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.