Supervisory Social Worker (Acute Medicine/Surgery)

Description:

The Supervisory Social Worker works in Social Work Service in Acute Medicine/Surgery. Supervisory responsibilities include the acute inpatient medicine and surgery sections located at the Gainesville VA Medical Center and Lake City VA Medical Center. This position manages both the GS-9 and GS-11 Social Workers, to include all administrative and clinical needs, to ensure the daily operations of the social workers' functions are efficient and effective.

Requirements:

This is an open continuous announcement and will remain open until March 31, 2025. It can be extended if needed. The first cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be 8 calendar days from opening of announcement, with subsequent cut-off dates. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred as qualified applicants apply or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled. Posting could be removed earlier than close date if all vacancies are filled. Your application will only be sent and referred to hiring manager once.


Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 03/31/2025

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 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 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/ .
  • 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 : In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates.

GS-12 Supervisory Social Worker candidates must have the following:

• Experience/Education: Applicants applying at the GS-12 grade level must have 1 year of experience, equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. Candidate 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. Training or additional certs must be submitted with application.

AND

• Licensure/Certification: At this grade level, social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure . Advanced License must be submitted with application.

References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/19. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .


While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. If selected, you may be required to submit narrative responses then. These are the KSA's for this position and grade level:

1. Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
2. Knowledge of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
3. Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services.
4. Ability to provide staff training and development.
5. Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers.

Physical Requirements: The work requires extreme patience and controlling of emotions. Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases and behavioral problems of the client population. Able to meet the physical demands of the position, to include sitting, standing, bending, frequent walking per shift, and lifting up to 25 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. They must have good manual dexterity. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and word. Must be able to view and read information on computer screens. Incumbent must be able safely operate a government owned vehicle to other locations within the NFSG service area that could include driving up to 3.5 hours each way. Travel is expected up to 50% of the work week.