"Alerted.org

Summary The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System is seeking a qualified Physician, Psychologist, Social Worker, or Nurse to serve as Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health (ACOS/MH), reporting directly to the Chief of Staff. Physicians can apply to announcement: Nurses can apply to announcement: Nursing Mental Health Chief Announcement Psychologists can apply to announcement: Responsibilities VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz\_ua\_UU Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf\ The City of Loma Linda is a scenic community located within eyesight of the towering peaks of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. Loma Linda is located approximately 60 miles east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County. While it is near the highly developed job market of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, it does provide a small town setting for your home, work or recreation. Adjacent to California's Interstate 10 freeway, Loma Linda is freeway close to beaches, mountains and desert resorts. At VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, our health care teams are deeply experienced and guided by the needs of Veterans, their families, and caregivers. Duties include, but are not limited to: Responsible for developing strategic plans, policies, procedures, and organizational structures required to fulfill the service line's mission. Final decision-making authority, responsibility and accountability on all issues affecting the MHS. Collaborates with clinical and administrative operations and program/section managers to ensure integrated goals and priorities for the MHS are established and met. Works closely with peers in other services and management to meet the needs of the System's recognized internal and external customer groups. They are responsible to ensure all residency, intern, and fellowship training program mandates are met in coordination with discipline service chiefs and program coordinators, internally and externally. Knowledgeable of overall VA, VHA, VISN, and VALL goals, missions, and priorities to assure a positive impact on programs and resources. Responsible for overall MHS clinical and administrative operations currently structured around a program management model and with a clinical emphasis on the Recovery Model. This responsibility includes system operations of inpatient acute care, emergency/crisis care, outpatient clinics, community based programs, patient/customer satisfaction, mental health services in psychiatry, psychology, nursing, social work, and successful attainment of VALL, VISN and VHA performance measures, and efficient and effective service delivery and resource management. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Available, due to the current policies it will be on an extremely limited basis. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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. 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. 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). 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. Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the 4 accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f) Grade Determinations: Social Work Program Manager, GS-15 Experience/Education. The social work program manager at the GS-15 grade level must have at least four years of experience as a VA clinical social worker with at least one-year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. The social work program manager must evidence possession of progressively higher supervisory and management skills. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. The individual may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must fully meet the KSAs for the GS-14 grade level and demonstrate all the following professional KSAs: Ability to manage and direct unusually large interdisciplinary programs, complex organizational units, apply effective management practices, plan, design, implement, and evaluate a program(s) that encompasses a wide range of facility/ healthcare system/VISN/CO activities. Ability to oversee issues related to budget projections and participate with senior leaders from the governing body, management and staff in upholding the facility mission, vision, value and strategic plan to include directly interacting with elected officials on VA related issues/concerns (i.e., members of Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, State and Local entities). Knowledge in establishing policy, procedures and quality monitors while considering multiple priorities, funding sources, and varying resources. Skill in assessing need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic patient care venues, coordinate and expand the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system. Knowledge to complete all program evaluations and documents required by the medical center, VISN and VHA Central Office, ensuring compliance with appropriate accrediting bodies such as The Joint Commission (TJC), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). Ability to orient, teach and serve as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the clinical social work characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding Veterans, family members and 29 caregivers. Skill in balancing responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy, set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines; analyze complex organizational problems and develop and implement effective solutions for those problems. Ability to promote and effectively manage a workforce which embraces the values and needs of all individuals through long-term commitment, strategic and business planning, education, experience which broadens the mindset and by fully managing human resources. Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the GS-15 grade level, size, scope, significance and impact is greater than the GS-14 grade level. The broad responsibility includes management of a very large, significantly complex service within the organization. Provides direct oversight to services with multiple complex programs, located at multiple sites and sections across the health care delivery system. The manager has full responsibility for managing and supervising all aspects of program operations, including clinical practice of an unusually large number of employees across multiple areas/sites, education, quality assurance for outcomes, human resource management and supervision of the extraordinarily large service. Professional staff under direct supervision may include psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, social workers, nurses, health system specialists and patient services assistants. The social work program manager provides strategic planning, including establishment of long and short-range goals, and development of policies and procedures to ensure goal attainment management of administrative and programmatic resources (including budget and line authority within the service), and outcomes monitoring, using data-driven quality assurance processes. They may have the responsibility for managing and supervising additional facility wide programs outside of the Service including supervision, operations, clinical practice, and program management. The manager develops responses to controlled correspondence received by the Medical Center, from VISN, and VHA Central Office levels, inclusive of responding to elected representatives and the Office of Inspector General Hotline concerning Veteran care and other matters of public interest. Preferred Experience: HCLDP Graduate, Board Certified in their Specialty; Fellowship in any Medical Specialty; 10+ years of VA Experience; 5+ years supervisory experience. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be mobile throughout VA Loma Linda Healthcare Systems (including ACC, main site, and community) as needed, including walking, standing, bending, pushing (i.e. wheelchairs), and some moderate lifting at times. In addition, there can be prolonged standing, walking and sitting during activities at the VA or in the community. The incumbent is required to provide onsite and bedside care for Veterans and onsite supervision to administrative reports. The incumbent may carry light items, such as books, files, or a laptop computer. Duties require ability to walk distances, communicate verbally in a clear manner, and normal hearing and manual dexterity. 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 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. 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. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. 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.