Incumbent has both clinical and administrative roles. In collaboration with the Chief of Medicine and Medicine Service Administrative Officer (AO) responsible for overall operation of Audiology Services within the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS). Oversees program operations including budget and fiscal management, human resources management, strategic planning, and program development. Responsible for overall clinical care provided within Audiology.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to: Administrative Developing, organizing, directing, managing, supervising, controlling and implementing policies and procedures in focused clinical programs Planning, assessing and evaluating programs to ensure proper coordination between Audiology Service and the overall delivery of health care Making decisions with wide latitude of control and independent judgment Directing and inspecting work of subordinates for accuracy and timeliness Supervising, orienting and training employees and students to ensure acceptable quality and quantity of work Exercising supervisory responsibilities such as 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 effecting disciplinary measures Serving as facilitator and/or negotiator in coordinating initiatives and consensus building activities among clinical team members with divergent backgrounds, interest, and points of view; Collaborating with human resources, labor relations and AFGE to monitor and resolve performance and conduct variances Representing Audiology Service on various committees and workgroups in support of Health Care Systems goals Demonstrating proactive interpersonal skills to achieve goals of the service remains supportive of group's efforts Clinical Serving as Supervisory Audiologist and is responsible for the identification, evaluation, rehabilitation and proper referral of Veterans having organically and non-organically based hearing disorders Interpreting and/or performing a wide variety of Audiology examinations Responsible for monitoring the quality of submitted hearing tests Responsible for the selection of reliable and valid clinical tests and instruments in order to identify Veterans with hearing loss as well as determining site of lesion within the auditory system Responsible for maintaining close liaison with other medical, allied health and administrative services at the medical center in order to contribute to the total rehabilitation of the Veteran Responsible for gathering information from other services and interpreting that information considering audiologic findings Participating in quality assurance and process improvement activities Ensuring productivity is maintained at or above established benchmarks and as documented in the Performance Standards Overseeing training of graduate level audiology and speech pathology· trainees, medical students, resident physicians, as well members of other professional disciplines on normal communication and communication disorders Supervising audiology practicum for students from cooperating academic institutions Completing Message Manager messages within 48 hours of message creation, completion of Secure messaging response within 72 hours of message receipt, appropriately managing clinical view alerts and completing all clinical encounters within 24 hours of service delivery Work Schedule: Fulltime, Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Not a Bargaining Unit position

Requirements

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: Doctor of Audiology (AuD) from an audiology program recognized by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The CAA is the only accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit entry-level audiology programs. HR office staff and management officials may verify the program accredited from CAA at www.caa.asha.org. OR Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the USDE. NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AuD programs in audiology. 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. Loss of Credential: In collaboration with HR office staff, management officials must immediately relieve employees of the duties and responsibilities associated with the occupation who fail to maintain the required licensure, which may also result in separation from employment. HR office staff must appoint audiologists in accordance with the provisions in Chapter 3, Section B, paragraph 16 of this part, who have or have ever had, their audiology licenses revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited or issued/placed in a probationary status. 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. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency: Audiologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as required 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: 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. (2) 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 in conflict resolution to facilitate positive working relationships between employees, team leaders and managers. Skill in applying evidence-based practices in a professional area. Ability to analyze organizational and operational challenges to develop and implement solutions. Ability to develop the abilities and strengths of current employees. Ability to balance responsibilities, set priorities and delegate tasks to meet multiple deadlines. Ability to analyze data to manage workload, quality, performance and productivity within the section Preferred Experience: At least three years of employment as a professional audiologist engaged in the practice of Audiology, preferably in VA or the Department of Defense Working knowledge of audiology budgetary requirements, fiscal planning, workload projections and productivity measures Advanced skill to provide treatment interventions including analysis and fitting of advanced amplification technology and signal processing algorithms and also using virtual modalities to a full range of patient populations Working knowledge of Audiology regulations and preparation for accreditation surveys, e.g., The Joint Commission, OIG, CARF Experience in using electronic medical records for documentation, data entry and other clinical activities References: VA Handbook 5005/152 Part Ii Appendix G29 Audiologist Qualification Standard GS-0665 Veterans Health Administration September 22, 2022. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: light lifting (under 15 pounds), reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (2 hours), standing (2 hours), ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, hearing (aid permitted) ability to work in dimmed light condition when required, work in front of computer 8 to 10 hours per day and sitting 6 to 8 hours per day.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript will be accepted 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Accreditation Information: Doctor of Audiology (AuD) from an audiology program recognized by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The CAA is the only accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit entry-level audiology programs. HR office staff and management officials may verify the program accredited from CAA at www.caa.asha.org. OR Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the USDE.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

NOTE: If your school was accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) or U.S. Department of Education (USDE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on their respective website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]