Audiologist - Chief

Summary

This position is in the Audiology Section of the Operative Care Line at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, Texas.

Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

This position as a Supervisory Audiologist spends 25% or more of your time providing technical and administrative supervision. This position serves as a service chief, managing stand-alone services, product lines or service lines. You will typically have line and staff authority for resource allocations within the area of responsibility and ensure the efficient operation of the organizational unit. You will have a broad and overall responsibility for the service-level department and full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management, and supervision for the service, as appropriate. You autonomously manage substantive parts of specialized, complex, professional services that significantly impact Veterans' care. You provide leadership with objective, independent assessments and recommendations for policy, operational and administrative issues and initiatives requiring decision and action. As a Service chief, you are responsible for planning, assessing, and evaluating programs to ensure coordination between care delivered by the program and the overall delivery of health care within the facility. You interpret and process a wide variety of data related to program planning and the specialized needs of the Veteran, the service, and the medical center. You assure compliance with accrediting agency and regulatory requirements and corrective action is initiated as needed. As a service chief in this assignment, you ensure policies or issues have been fully coordinated, vetted, and staffed. You advise leadership on policy implications, key issues, relationships to internal and external interest groups, and recommend courses of action. You maintain interdepartmental relationships with other services to accomplish medical center goals. Service chiefs in this assignment coordinate and negotiate resolutions to complex problems. You 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 as requested. You are responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution. As a service chief, you are assigned develop policies and procedures and may develop performance standards, position descriptions, and functional statements. You conduct performance appraisals and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities related to the management of staff to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center has been satisfied. You may set training objectives and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections.

Work Schedule: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. OR 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Possess a valid, unrestricted State driver's license and have a safe driving record.
• 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.
• Education. The individual must possess either of the below:
  
  
  • Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the [Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE)] or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). OR
  • Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education

NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AuD programs in audiology.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.

• Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

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 meeting the above Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Grade Determination criteria below:

Supervisory Audiologist, GS-13:Experience: At least two years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs identified below.

• Skill to evaluate programs to ensure efficient and appropriate integration of care.
• Ability to develop contingencies and align resources to achieve program goals.
• Ability to effectively interpret and apply facility, VISN, and national audiology and speech pathology services policies.
• Ability to effectively create service-level policies and priorities to align with facility strategic plan.
• Ability to supervise professional staff.

Preferred Experience: Five years of experience preferred as an Audiologist working in a clinical setting.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS13.

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 for 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.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.