Summary

The Chief of Pharmacy is a clinical and administrative position that provides leadership and administrative control over the pharmacy programs and services provided under the umbrella of the VA Maryland Health Care System. The primary responsibility is for the planning, development, implementation, monitoring and improvement of the scope of pharmacy services.

Duties

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Major Duties:

Administration:

• Develops and implements both long and short-range policies and plans including budget and fiscal management; supply, service and equipment procurement; personnel and workforce utilization; contract negotiation; construction and renovation; and space utilization.
• Manages payroll for assigned time and leave accounts.

Personnel Management:

• The Chief of Pharmacy has full supervisory authority over staff who provide clinical and administrative support to Pharmacy Service.
• Oversees the daily operation of the unit, ensures that agency policies and priorities are being followed.
• Supervisory work includes responsibility for planning and scheduling work; assigning work to employees; accepting, amending, or rejecting completed work; assuring that production and accuracy requirements are met; developing performance standards; evaluating work performance, recommending performance standards and ratings; and effecting disciplinary measures.
• Provides advice, counsel, and instruction to employees on both work and administrative matters.
• Manages minor complaints from employees and collaborates with Labor Relations to resolve group grievances and more serious complaints.
• Carries out Equal Employment Opportunity policies and program activities.

Distributive Services:

• Manage the provision of outpatient and inpatient pharmaceutical services and approved products. This includes ordering, storing, disposal, distributing, supporting, administering, dispensing, and maintaining proper records for all pharmaceuticals, including but not limited to emergency drug caches, controlled substances, parenteral therapy, and investigational drugs.
• Establish and implement an ongoing quality assurance program that monitors performance of the Automated Pharmacy System, including a contingency plan in the event of a system, power, or process failure.

Clinical Pharmacy Services:

• Has overall responsibility for Pharmacy Clinical Programs including patient education, medication therapy management, drug information and consultative services, patient assessment, drug administration, and prescriptive authority for those staff with a Scope of Practice functioning as mid-level providers.
• Ensure the Clinical Pharmacy Practitioners (CPP) scope of practice identifies the individual's general areas of responsibility to be performed, routine and non-routine professional duties, and prescriptive authority.

Regulatory Compliance:

• Responsible for Pharmacy Service compliance with relevant standards of VA policy, the Joint Commission (JC); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the practice standards, guidelines, and technical bulletins of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP); and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Chapter (entitled "Pharmaceutical Compounding - Sterile Preparations) and Chapter ; the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as they pertain to patient privacy; and all applicable Federal and state laws (where adopted) and regulations concerning the dispensing of medications to hospitalized patients.

Formulary Management and Medication Safety:

• Ensure the quality and access to educational drug information to include electronic drug literature databases.
• Responsible for formulary management processes.

Drug Safety:

• Adverse drug event reporting program is in place and reviewed at the VAMHCS P&T Committee.
• Ensure appropriate Temperature Monitoring policy and procedure in the pharmacy are enforced for 24/7 monitoring of medications and provide the expert disposition of the medications store not under the management and control of pharmacy.
• Ensure safety and security of medication compounding areas.

Investigational Drug Management:

• Responsible for the receipt, storage, security, labeling, dispensing, and disposition of all investigational drugs and supplies used in clinical investigations, and for ensuring that there is adequate pharmacy staffing and resources to safely conduct investigational drug studies in compliance with all rules and regulations.

Emergency Pharmacy Services:

• Responsible for All Hazards Emergency Cache (AHEC).
• Ensure all inspections and inventories are completed and documented in accordance with criteria established by PBM.

Training and Education:

• Ensure affiliation agreements are current with local schools of pharmacy and that VA pharmacy residency sites are accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
• Appoint a Residency Program Director who meets ASHP Standards for each accredited residency.

Work Schedule: 8am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday; see additional information section.

Compressed/Flexible:Not Available

Telework: Available; Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 260402F

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.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.
• 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.
• Requires a financial disclosure report to be filed.

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:
  
  1. Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois [redacted]; phone: [redacted], or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
  2. Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet- Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
• Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

Grade Determinations:

GS-15 Service Chief - Pharmacy

Experience: In addition to the GS-14 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

1. Skill in persuading others and gaining cooperation to accomplish goals.
2. Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing regarding complex clinical and technical issues.
3. Skill in utilizing regulatory and quality standards to develop and implement operational programs.4.Skill in managing multiple people or programs.
4. Skill in utilizing available resources to support the missions and goals of the organization.
5. Ability to plan, organize and direct the functions of the pharmacy staff.

Preferred Experience: 3 or more years of experience in all of the following:

• Leading Clinical and/or Operational Pharmacy Services within a complex health care system.
• Ensuring Pharmacy programs, services, procedures, and policies, comply with all applicable local, state, federal, and/or national regulations, directives, and standards.
• Developing and/or directing multimillion dollar Pharmacy medication and personnel budgets.
• Developing and executing pharmaceutical cost-mitigation and/or budget optimization initiatives.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-15.

Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the position require regular and recurring physical exertion, involving standing for prolonged periods of time, lifting/carrying of pharmaceutical supplies weighing up to 40 pounds, pushing and pulling of large carts. The job may include significant time at a

computer terminal.

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

Pharmacists are essential employees and follow VA Maryland Health Care System guidance, rules, policies, directives, and/or other notifications for essential employees during emergency and/or inclement weather.

Position suitable for telework. Telework eligibility and work hours permissible to telework are under the discretion and determination of management at all times. Current designation: Ad-hoc

Tour of Duty: Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm; All shifts are determined or approved by leadership/management and based on service needs.

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.

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.

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