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Chaplain

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is assigned to the Chaplain Service at the Hampton VA Medical Center or a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC).

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/03/2025 to 07/11/2025
Salary
$62,020 to - $97,544 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Hampton, VA
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Intermittent
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBTA-12758257-25-KB
Control number
840065900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current permanent Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and VISN employees of VISN 6.

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Duties

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  • Serves as a Chaplain professional providing complete religious ministry services to Veteran patients according to their specific needs and desires. Serves as a primary resource, spiritual advisor and point of contact for the spiritual needs of patients, caregivers, and staff. Conducts religious services and worship, pastoral ministry, and administration of Chaplain services.
  • Engages as a spiritual leader, a compassionate listener and counselor, especially during times of crisis. Provides emotional support and counseling using empathy and strong interpersonal skills to effectively connect with people of all ages. Ensures assignments are carried out in a pluralistic environment, which encompasses sensitivity to the religious needs of many separate religious denominations and faith groups.
  • Leads and offers prayers and religious services for Veteran patients, patient families, staff, and community. Conduct rituals in front of groups of people, which requires effective leadership and public speaking skills. Uses leadership skills to lead prayer and religious services.
  • Addresses the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical problems of patients and staff. Provides counseling services to patients and staff. Conducts regular rounds of hospital wards where patients are critically ill.
  • Ministers to newly admitted, pre- and post-operative patients, the critically ill, and the families of concerned veteran patients. Provides advance care planning education, information, and counsel for patients and their families.
  • Provides pastoral ministry to patients of his/her faith group, including conscientious attention during emergencies and crises. Ensures all patients are provided opportunities for the free exercise of religion and that Veterans are protected from proselytizing and coercing from any source.
  • Serves as a fully recognized member of an integrated multi-professional treatment team. Maintains liaison with physicians, medical officers, psychologists, nurses, therapists, social workers, or others involved to exchange information relative to the background and current condition of patients. Supervises, trains and coaches volunteer groups who offer their services as assistants as needed.
  • Provides pastoral counseling on medical and ethical matters, including moral injury, problems of conscience, family or marital difficulties, justice or confinement matters, terminal diagnoses, or crisis. Addresses fears that patients have when facing surgery and answers questions regarding the meaning of life when confronted with the reality of pain, illness, permanent disfigurement, crippling, or death.
  • Counsels patients with long term health illness to aid in developing and maintaining patience, determination, and perseverance. Provides advice to mental health patients with deeply troubling concerns of anxiety, depression, obsession, and fear. Provides referrals for continuity of spiritual care.
  • Develops measurable, outcome-driven, and evidence-based pastoral care; and creates staff development and wellness programs. Supports the development of staff resiliency by providing emotional and spiritual support and compassionate presence.
  • Provides guidance and religious instruction to individuals and groups. Conducts and arranges for religious worship services in chapels and at other locations for patients that are unable to attend regular chapel services.
  • Administers ordinances, rites or sacraments; prepares and delivers sermons; arranges for the atmosphere and symbolism of worship; and conducts funeral services when needed.
Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm (Monday-Friday) (Part-Time) (This position may require availability for on-call duties during weekends (Saturday and Sunday)
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

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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

All Chaplains must meet the following basic requirements:

Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, a chaplain employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time 2 basis, would receive one full-time work week of credit for each two weeks of service.

  • EDUCATION: Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational qualifications as evidenced by a graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) (https://www.chea.org/) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) (https://www.ats.edu/) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
    • Applicants who do not possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational degree may meet this requirement with an approved educational equivalency review from a nationally recognized board certification body for chaplains is acceptable such as the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. (BCCI) or a nationally recognized certification body that utilizes the BCCI Common Qualifications and Competencies for professional Chaplaincy or a certifying organization that has a reciprocity agreement with BCCI.
  • CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION (CPE): Applicants must have completed four units of CPE from a CPE center that is accredited by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. https://acpe.edu/ NOTE: Listing of currently accredited CPE Centers is available here: ACPE - AccreditedCPEDirectory. For centers which are no longer accredited but were accredited at the time candidate may submit an ACPE Transcript Request (acpe.edu) or contact ACPE to confirm their unit was from an accredited center (404) 320-1472.
  • ENDORSEMENT: Applicants must possess a full and active ecclesiastical endorsement, dated within the past 12 months. A complete list of Ecclesiastical Organizations that the Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes as Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organizations is available here: https://www.patientcare.va.gov/chaplain/Ecclesiastical_Endorsement.asp (Note: Current VA Chaplains do not have to get updated endorsements after they are hired.)
  • CERTIFICATION: Applicants must be a Board-Certified Chaplain by the Board of Chaplaincy Certifications Inc. (BCCI) or nationally recognized certification body that utilizes the BCCI Common Qualifications and Competencies for Professional Chaplaincy or a certifying organization that has a reciprocity agreement with BCCI. GS-9 Entry-Level Only: Applicants pending board certification may be given a temporary appointment not to exceed two years as long as they meet the other eligibility requirements. https://www.apchaplains.org/bcci-site/
Preferred Experience: Must have 1-2 years experience as a Chaplain.
Note: Current Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Chaplains who were employed in the position as of September 24, 2020 that were grandfathered are considered to have met the positive education, CPE, and certification requirements.

GS-9 Chaplain - To qualify at the GS-9 level, you must meet the basic requirements and must demonstrate that you have the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
  • Knowledge of spiritual assessments to identify patient strengths and needs and documenting services provided.
  • Ability to use the information of the spiritual assessment to create care plans in all dimensions of pastoral care.
  • Ability to provide crisis intervention and stabilization.
  • Skill in healthcare team collaboration to create and update treatment plans to address spiritual issues.
  • Ability to ensure free exercise of religion for patients and staff.
  • Knowledge of individual and group interventions to address spiritual and emotional needs of patients and families, providing referrals for continuity of spiritual care.
  • Skill in the coordination of religious services respecting the faith tradition of individual patients.
  • Ability to communicate verbally and in writing with persons of varied backgrounds
GS-11 Chaplain - To qualify at the GS-11 level you must meet the basic requirements plus at least one year of creditable experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level that is directly related to the position to be filled such as conducting spiritual assessments to identify patient strengths and needs; creating plans for care in response to moral injuries and/or spiritual distress of patients; providing crisis intervention and stabilization; collaborating with healthcare teams, and using a variety of intervention methods (individual and group). Your experience must demonstrate that you meet the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):
  • Knowledge of advance care planning to educate, inform, and counsel patients and families.
  • Skill in guiding patients in verbalizing and expressing values through life review, oral history, and end of life preparation and documentation.
  • Ability to develop pastoral care programs that are measurable, outcome-driven and evidenced based within the department guidelines.
  • Skill in counseling on medical and ethical issues, terminal diagnoses or crises, moral injury, problems of conscience, family or marital difficulties and justice or confinement matters.
  • Ability to support the development of staff resiliency and develop programs for staff development and wellness by providing spiritual and emotional support.
  • Ability to educate and equip healthcare staff and trainees screening for spiritual and religious needs of patients and the importance of appropriate referrals to chaplains for complex spiritual distress.
  • Knowledge of community needs to coordinate with community organizations to provide comprehensive spiritual care, utilizing outside community resources to meet the religious needs of patients that cannot be met by chaplain staff.
Note: Current VA Chaplains do not have to get updated endorsements after they are hired.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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.

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