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Supervisory Health Science Specialist (Chief of Ethics Policy)

Employer
USAJobs
Location
Washington, D.C
Closing date
Aug 27, 2019
Duties

Summary

The incumbent serves as Chief of Ethics Policy in the National Center for Ethics in Health Care (NCEHC), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), located at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. NCEHC is responsible for addressing the complex ethical issues that arise in health care across VHA, to include clinical, organizational and research ethics. Ethics is the consideration of what is right or should be done in the face of uncertainty.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

  • Analyze, develop, write, interpret and implement institutional health care ethics policy for a large health care system
  • Develop and recommend new and revised national ethics policy, legislative proposals and draft regulations
  • Translate new legislation and regulation into program goals, actions and services
  • Advise, assist and support the field in understanding and applying ethics policy standards
  • Advise national leaders to include other VACO program offices, congressional staff, Veteran representatives, and other Federal departments on ethical aspects of VHA policy and service delivery; independently negotiate resolutions when conflicts arise
  • Identify matters in which new or modified policy is needed to improve practices, and propose specific revisions to VHA policies, procedures and guidelines
  • Submit and manage all NCEHC (Ethics) policies through the established process
  • Draft annual legislative proposal package for the Program Office and develop proposed regulatory language
  • Represent the Program Office on agency-wide and interagency committees, and act as a liaison to other VHA Program Offices
  • Collaborate with various officials within the Agency on ethics policy and regulatory issues
  • Develop expert written advice in response to requests from VHA facilities, VISNs and VACO regarding ethics, especially interpretation and implementation of ethics policies
  • Provide technical and administrative supervision to a team of five subordinate ethics team members
  • Oversee daily operations, ensuring that agency policies and priorities are being followed
  • Plan work of subordinate staff; set and adjust priorities and prepare schedules for completion of work
Work Schedule: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Negotiable
Telework: Adhoc telework negotiable
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health Science Specialist (Chief of Ethics Policy)/PD02854-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Recruitment/relocation incentive may be paid in accordance with Federal regulations and in consideration of budget availability for a highly qualified candidate; determination to be made upon selection; selectee will be required to sign a service agreement.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

25% or less - You may be expected to travel up to approximately 20% for this position.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • Subject to background/security investigation
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process


Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/26/2019.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current, permanent 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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 showing 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.

Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade. Please review the Required Document section for additional information, and to ensure all appropriate documentation is submitted at the time of application.

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement who have separated within the past 52 weeks, and current employees applying under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA).

Basic Education Requirement: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university resulting in a bachelor's or higher degree in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Transcripts Required.

Additional Qualifications: In addition to meeting the basic education requirement, you must have specialized experience as described below. Education cannot be substituted for experience at these grade levels.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Supervising and planning work of subordinate staff, providing technical and administrative supervision, monitoring and auditing work, overseeing daily operations, analyzing and developing policy, excellent oral and written communication, advising others on policy guidance, identifying where new policy is needed and executing, representing an agency on large scale committees, prioritizing and readjusting as needed to accomplish goals, ethics experience

ICTAP/CTAP candidates: ICTAP/CTAP candidates must be found to be well qualified for referral.

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. A full year of work is 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited based on time 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.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Specialized knowledge of the VA mission, goals, objectives, laws and regulations related to health care ethics
  • Ability to plan, organize and direct team work
  • Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of an organization
  • Expert skill in the interpretation of guidelines and regulations, agency policy, ethics codes, clinical practice standards and ethics literature
  • Knowledge of health care ethics standards promoted by organizations such as the Joint Commission and clinical professional standards in ethics such as those promulgated by the American Medical Association and American Nurses Association
  • Extensive experience in health care ethics (such as, shared decision making with patients, ethical practices in end-of-life care, privacy and confidentiality, professionalism in patient care, ethical practices in resource allocation, ethical practices in business and management, ethical practices in everyday workplace and ethical practices in research)
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits or stands comfortably to do the work; however, there may be some walking, bending, carrying of light items, such as, papers and books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) may be authorized for a highly qualified candidate.

Additional information

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .

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.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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.

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

If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

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.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
  • Resume
  • Transcript


The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
  • Cover Letter
  • DD-214/ Statement of Service
  • Disability Letter (Schedule A)
  • Disability Letter (VA)
  • License
  • OF-306
  • Other (1)
  • Other (2)
  • Other (3)
  • PCS Orders
  • Performance Appraisal
  • Professional Certification
  • Proof of Enrollment
  • Proof of Marriage Status
  • Resume
  • Separation Notice (RIF)
  • SF-15
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
  • Transcript


SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):
  • Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
  • An SF-50 showing 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
  • Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
  • Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
    • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
    • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
    • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.
Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx .

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