Supervisory Pharmacy Technician The GS-09 Pharmacy Technician Supervisor is responsible for the supervision of the Fort Meade and Rapid City Clinic pharmacy technician operational staff, technician program managers, technician students and volunteers/light duty assistance. The position requires significant independent technical judgement and expertise in complex areas of pharmacy practice, regulatory requirements, and quality standards.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to: Supervisory Activities: 1) Utilizes and displays tenants of High Reliability Organization to encourage collaboration amongst pharmacy technicians throughout the service line, utilizing huddles to encourage process improvement and lean management concepts to maximize resource utilization within the organization. 2) Develop the work schedule, plan and grant leave and rotate duties of the pharmacy technician staff. Assures that personnel are scheduled in such a way as to provide consistency of coverage and to accommodate planned leave and promote employee morale. 3) Continuously analyzes and reassesses priorities, redirecting staff across the service line to assure that workload demands are accomplished in the most effective, efficient, and economic manner possible. 4) Oversee specialty areas as required and assigned. 5) Engage in development and/or implementation in best practices for technician support of complex operational pharmacy technician programs. 6) Assist with the development of performance standards that are realistic, challenging, and supporting the organizational mission, vision, and goals. Responsible for ensuring all employees meet performance standards and competencies. Identify areas for improvement as needed. 7) Serves and collaborates on facility workgroups and committees to maximize utilization of pharmacy technician responsibility and input to process changes. 8) Leads implementation of new programs and standards for pharmacy technicians of all operational practice areas. 9) Conduct technician meetings to assure proper updates of departmental and hospital communications. 10) Assist in the development of policies and procedures and participate in departmental goal planning and quality improvement activities. 11) Will perform any duties of a pharmacy technician when the needs of the service require. 12) This position works within and supports a workgroup (workgroup is considered pharmacy staff assigned to complete similar work). Technical Duties: 1) Prepare various management reports as delegated to include, but not limited to: ward stock, automation, competency, controlled substance reports, technician workload impact, and contract compliance. 2) Serves as a leader to collaborate with pharmacy supervisors and staff to identify areas of duplication of efforts and develops solutions to streamline processes, reduce waste, save costs, and improve patient care. 3) For identified areas of concerns, works independently to develop potential resolution and action plan to quickly minimize inefficiency or patient safety concerns. 4) Develops an environment of transparency with facility and pharmacy leadership and all staff to encourage open communication and safety event reporting. 5) Develop and implement necessary administrative audits such as wait time audits and workflow analysis. 6) Effectively evaluates pharmacy activities to assist management to obtain short and long-range objectives and goals. Quality and Regulatory Duties: 1) Assists in preparation of national, local, and special accreditations of pharmacy service. (Joint Commission, Inspector General, Controlled Substance Inspections, Drug Enforcement Agency) This includes documentation record updates, development of specific training and preparation of staff and compliance of policy and procedures. 2) Proactively evaluates and analyzes data for self-driven (independent) performance improvement projects, workload analysis and statistical reports. 3) Utilizes knowledge of pharmacy program to develop new standards to determine effectiveness of processes. Other: 1) Requires technical knowledge of drug and medication brand names, generic names/chemical names, general and special storage requirements, expiration date requirements, manufacturer/distributor sources, dosage forms, applicable systems of weights and measures, and medical terminology. Working knowledge of drug use and availability of dosage forms, to assist the pharmacist in solving potential problems. 2) Knowledge of laws, regulations, and official policy concerning drug procurement and security to conform to legal and professional requirements of pharmacy practice. 3) Can perform all duties of a Procurement/Inventory Pharmacy Technician and other lower graded Pharmacy Technicians under incumbents' supervision. Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday-Friday, 7:30-4:15 Telework: If approved, will be on an ad-hoc basis 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

Requirements

Qualifications

All requirements must be met by the close date of this announcement. 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 or Experience: None required. For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT). English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician 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: GS-9 Supervisory Pharmacy Technician Experience: One year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the lower grade level, GS-8. AND Certification: For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: PTCB as a CPhT. OR NHA as a ExCPT. AND Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Expert knowledge serving as a key resource advising others in their particular specialty area or section of the pharmacy (such as procurement, sterile compounding (USP compounding standards), controlled substances DEA, automation, clinical pharmacy, lead tech, contact center, etc.). (b) Skill in analyzing data for self-driven (independent) performance improvement projects, workload analysis and statistical reports. (c) Skill in solving problems and implementing corrective actions to maximize outcomes in their program area. (d) Ability to maintain special accreditations and prepare for national reviews/inspections (e.g., The Joint Commission, Inspector General, American Society of Health System Pharmacists®, controlled substance inspections). (e) Ability to develop training programs and material for orientation, competency development and educational needs for regulatory requirements within the specialized pharmacy program area. (f) Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders and managers. (g) Ability to utilize staffing methodology principles to determine adequate staffing to coordinate and manage workflow and work activities within pharmacy. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/159 PART II APPENDIX G28 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-9. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Grandfathering Provision. Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. (3) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (4) Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. (5) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Education

IMPORTANT: 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA Black Hills Health Care System 113 Comanche Road Fort Meade, SD 57741 US
• Name: Adam Abbott
• Phone: 612-629-7067
• Email: [email protected]