Summary

The Audiologist (Clinical Specialist) - Education Coordinator has primary oversight of the Student Trainee Program within the Audiology Service. They conduct a full range of audiological evaluations and ensures that work assignments of the other members of a clinical team are carried out by performing a range of administrative duties.

Duties

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The Audiologist conducts a full range of audiological evaluations to determine the type and degree of hearing loss, determines patients' need for amplification, predicts and measures the effectiveness of amplification, and determines need for and type of rehabilitation and counseling of veterans with hearing loss and their families.

Major Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Special program responsibilities including coordinating all aspects of the specialty care related to the student training program to ensure local, VISN, national and individual affiliate guidelines are followed.
• Serves as the Audiology Education Coordinator for Audiology interns and externs at all levels, both paid through the Office of Academic Affiliates (OAA) and unpaid without compensation (WOC) students at all levels of education.
• Manages requests for student shadowing/observation experiences with educational affiliates.
• Responsible for working with the facility Designated Education Officer (DEO) (or their designee) and the OAA in establishing affiliation agreements with partnering university programs.
• Maintains continual contact with the affiliated programs and students by providing application criteria for interested students of all levels of education including undergraduate for shadowing/observation opportunities and graduate students for paid and WOC 2nd & 3rd year semester placements and 4th year placements.
• Develops and maintains an Audiology Student Trainee handbook with the policies and procedures of the HWW VAMC and the Audiology Service.
• Develops and provides the initial and ongoing training for all audiology students.
• Ensures the student clinical experience is of high quality and the supervising audiologists are providing appropriate clinical supervision.
• Coordinates with the Audiology Service Administrative Officer, Human Resources, Learning Resources and Office of Information Technology for the onboarding and offboarding of all paid and all WOC students.
• Exercises independent clinical judgment and adapts clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate age-specific and unique patient conditions, needs, and expectations.
• Evaluates patients to determine nature, type, and severity of hearing and balance disorders using a full range of diagnostic tests and techniques, past, family, and social history, record review, and consultation with family and other health care practitioners.
• Serves as a consultant to other facility personnel involving the most difficult and complex cases and is recognized as a subject matter expert on matters relating to hearing, tinnitus and balance disorders.
• All other duties as assigned, pertaining to this occupation, to meet the needs of the Agency, Department, Facility, and/or Service.

Work Schedule: Full-Time. Compressed schedule.

Compressed: Week 1: Monday-Thursday 7:30am-5:00pm, Friday 7:30am-4:00pm. Week 2: Monday-Thursday 7:30am-5:00pm. Friday: Off.

Telework: Ad-hoc telework may be approved as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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.
• 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.

RESUME REQUIREMENTS - Your resume MUST include the following information:

• Job Title (for each position)
• Grade (for Federal positions)
• Description of duties (be as detailed as possible)
• Month and year start/end dates (e.g. June 2018 to April 2020) of employment
• Full-time or part-time status (include average hours worked per week)

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: (1) 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 (2) 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.
• 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.

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: Audiologist (Clinical Specialist) GS-13.

Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-13, you must possess at least two years of experience as a professional audiologist, with at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-12).

In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Advanced knowledge in a focused area of contemporary audiology practice to provide oversight of a specialty program.
• Skill to evaluate the specialty program to ensure deadlines and goals are met.
• Skill to coordinate initiatives and build consensus among interdisciplinary team members.
• Ability to monitor and report on work progress in the specialty program to adjust workload and processes.
• Ability to serve as the SME and provide education relating to the specialty program.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in leadership
• Completion of VHA Leadership trainings
• Experience precepting student trainees and mentoring new employees.
• Experience in developing and conducting presentations to internal and external stakeholders.

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

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, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

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.

Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care.

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.