Summary This position is located in the Speech Language Pathology Service at Overton Brooks VAMC in Shreveport, Louisiana. The duties and responsibilities are carried out throughout all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the Audiology/Speech Pathology service. This position serves as a Service Chief of Speech Language Pathology. Responsibilities The primary duties of the Supervisory Speech Language Pathologist-Service Chief may include but are not limited to: Serves as a Service Chief; responsible for all professional, management and administrative aspects of the service or organizational entity. Overall responsible for a service-level organizational unit and has full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management and supervision for the service. Autonomously manages substantive parts of specialized, complex, professional services that significantly impact Veterans' care. Provides leadership with objective, independent assessments and recommendations for policy, operational and administrative issues and initiatives requiring decision and action. Monitors work performance to ensure that requirements are satisfied; interprets and processes a wide variety of data related to program planning and specialized needs of the Veterans, the service, and the medical center; and ensures policies or issues have been fully coordinated, vetted, and staffed. Advises executive leadership on implications, key issues, and relationships to interest groups (both internal and external) and recommend courses of action; coordinates and negotiates resolutions to complex problems. Assures compliance with accrediting agencies and regulatory requirements and corrective action is initiated as needed. Responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution. Maintains interdepartmental relationships with other services to accomplish medical center goals. May prepare special reports and responses, Congressional responses, briefing papers, issue briefs and decision papers for the medical center leadership, which may be highly sensitive, confidential and of a complex nature. Develops policies and procedures and may develop performance standards, position descriptions and functional statements. Monitors the clinical performance of staff, conduct performance appraisals, and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center has been satisfied. May set training objectives for staff and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections. Exercises supervision, administrative management, and direction of both professional areas in a unified audiology and speech-language pathology service or equivalent service-level department, or administrative management and program direction of other rehabilitation-related areas. Manages and directs the work of others to accomplish program goals and missions. Supervises, motivates, and effectively manages a diverse clinical staff applicable to a service level department in a large, complex, or multi-division facility. Responsible for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivered by the service. Develops, organizes, directs, manages, supervises, controls, and implements policies and procedures for complex service-level departments. Fully responsible for developing and directing educational and training programs; negotiating affiliation agreements with academic partners; and setting training objectives. Delegates responsibilities to subordinate section or assistant chiefs (if applicable), planning, and scheduling work; assigning work to employees; accepting, amending, or rejecting completed work; assuring that production and accuracy requirements are met; appraising performance and recommending performance standards and ratings; assigning delineated clinical privileges; approving leave; and affecting all levels of disciplinary measures. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30 pm, subject to changed based on the needs of the facility. Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00941F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Requirements 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. 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. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. 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. Must be able to independently operate Government Vehicle. Must provide clean driving record report from the DMV during the pre-employment process. 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 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 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. 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. 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: Supervisory Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-14. Experience. In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-13 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 management goals and objectives into efficient service operations. (b) Skill in providing clinical and administrative oversight of service operations within complex facilities and/or multiple sites. (c) Skill in conflict resolution to facilitate positive working relationships between employees, team leaders and management. (d) Ability to effectively collaborate with local, VISN and national leadership. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Preferred experience: 2 years supervisory experience. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS14. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment. Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations. 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.
