Clarification from the agency

Open to current permeant employees of the Bath VAMC only.

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Duties:
***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

Duties include, but may not be limited to the following:

• Plans, assigns, and reviews the work of his/her employees.
• Schedules adequate staffing for evening and overnight shifts, 7-days a week coverage and re-arranging staff schedules to accommodate leave requests with minimal use of overtime expense.
• Coordinates training for new and existing employees in accordance with established procedures and practices.
• Answers staff questions regarding procedures, policies, directives, etc. and obtains needed information or decisions from the Supervisory Social Science Specialist when problems occur.
• Interviews and hires staff members and prepares performance plans, awards, disciplinary actions, etc. as appropriate.
• Counsels employees and hears and resolves concerns and complaints.
• Educates and orients new staff and/or students to the program and its practices.
• Works as a team member on client's treatment, reviewing portions of treatment plans, providing input to team members.
• Resolves issues related to the complexity of the patient mix as well as the unpredictability of what may occur within the treatment setting and provides crisis intervention as needed. Ensures nonclinical staff, working in a clinical setting, have an understanding of appropriate clinical interventions and follow up as well as possible consequences if these interventions are not adhered to.
• Develops and analyzes relevant data that can be used to prepare reports.
• Shares responsibility for the environment of care provided to Veterans in the DRRTP, room assignment, residents' room inspections, and has oversight for residents' assignments in maintaining a clean environment while reporting damages and other problems.
• Conducts rounds through DRRTP buildings and completes round sheets.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Overnight, specific hours to be discussed during the interview
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Social Science Program Specialist/PD05989A

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
• You may be required to serve a probationary/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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/25/2025.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT - Applicants must first meet one of the basic requirements listed below:

• Possess a Bachelor's degree (or higher) in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to this position. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR
• Possess four (4) years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. OR
• Possess a combination of education and experience that provided you with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS - In addition to meeting the above requirements, you must also meet one of the additional requirements as described below to qualify for this position at each grade level.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the above requirement, applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped them with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience includes: providing supervision/oversight to staff in planning, assigning, and reviewing work of employees; coordinating staff training; reviewing treatment plans; resolving patient issues; conducting rounds; and analyzing data and preparing reports.

OR

Superior Academic Achievement (Transcript Required): (SAA) at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for SAA, applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying (as described above) for the position to be filled and meet one of the following:

1. Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university or major subdivision.
2. A grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
3. A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
4. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp

For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f .

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: Successful completion of one (1) full year of progressively higher level graduate education with a major in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to this position, is fully qualifying for the GS-7. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED).

OR

COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Communications
• Decision Making
• Organizational Awareness
• Planning and Evaluating

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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The work is partly sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there will be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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 WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the 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.