Supervisory Speech-Language Pathologist (Chief of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Service)

Summary

The Chief of the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Service (ASPS) in VA Northern California Health Care System (NCHCS) has broad and overall responsibility for the service-level department. The incumbent of this position is a fully licensed speech language pathologist, or fully licensed audiologist.

Duties

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The incumbent of this position is position is responsible for (a) strategic planning, supervision, and delegation of administrative, clinical, educational and research activities of audiology and speech-language pathology personnel and operations, (b) providing independent clinical practice services to the full range of complex patient populations presenting with speech, language, voice, cognitive-communication, swallowing, hearing, tinnitus or vestibular disorders, consistent with licensed, professional qualifications, and (c) oversight of the educational program of the service.

Duties for the position may include but are not limited to:

Administrative responsibilities

• Develops, organizes, directs, manages, supervises, controls, and implements ASP and VA policies and procedures;
• Exercises supervision and administrative management, and plans short term goals, long terms goals, and the strategic direction of ASPS;
• Organizes work; sets priorities; delegates tasks and responsibilities to subordinate personnel; accepts, amends or rejects completed work; approves performance standards and ratings; prepares functional statements and position descriptions; approves leave; completes staff performance reviews; and recommends disciplinary measures as appropriate;
• Establishes, monitors and evaluates ASPS productivity, access and quality metric standards, and applies budgetary, regulatory, productivity and quality standards to effectively guide provision of clinical services;
• Plans, assesses, and evaluates ASPS programs to ensure proper coordination between care delivered by ASPS audiologists, speech-language pathologists, health technicians (hearing) and health technicians (speech-language pathology), with the overall delivery of health care within NCHCS;
• Monitors and ensures ASPS compliance with all safety, information management, computer security, reusable medical equipment, environmental, and EEO regulations and policies, and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and The Joint Commission policies and requirements;
• Develops the ASPS budget, assures adherence to the approved budget, and provides oversight for purchases or contracts for goods and services initiated by ASPS; assures the service has sufficient personnel, space and equipment resources to complete assigned work;
• Provides oversight for all ASPS quality improvement and research activities while assuring that the methods and findings of these activities achieve the highest standards of ethical conduct, scientific rigor, and patient or participant safety.

Clinical Practice

• Consistent with professional licensure requirements and qualifications, incorporates advanced knowledge of scientific principles of contemporary audiology or speech-language pathology clinical practice, and demonstrates mature professional judgement in the differential diagnosis and treatment of the full range of complex patient populations presenting with hearing, tinnitus or vestibular disorders.
• Guides professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching; demonstrates leadership in defining and attending to professional practice issues; and has the ability to expand the conceptual knowledge of audiology and speech-language pathology professional practice;
• Provides consultation to colleagues, and renders professional opinions based on experience, expertise and clinical qualifications;

Education and Training

• Develops, directs and delegates activities of the ASPS educational and training programs; negotiates affiliation agreements with academic partners; and establishes training objectives;
• Participates in the training and supervision of students or trainees in ASPS and provides feedback on progress toward established educational goals.
• Other related duties as assigned.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and may be posted up to September 30, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be November 10, 2025. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday - Friday; 8:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m.; Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency

Telework: Available; Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 06918F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized

Requirements

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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.
• 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 ([click to reveal website link]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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Speech Language Pathologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education and Experience:
  
  
  • A master's degree, or its equivalent, in speech-language pathology, communication disorders or a directly related field from an accredited college or university and one year of creditable experience (see below). or
    
    
    • Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
  • A doctoral degree in speech-language pathology, communication disorders and sciences or a related field, from an accredited college or university.
• Licensure: Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.

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:

Supervisory Speech-Language Pathologist, GS-14

• Experience: In addition to the basic requirements at the GS-13 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  
  
  • Skill to translate management goals and objectives into efficient service operations.
  • Skill in providing clinical and administrative oversight of service operations within complex facilities and/or multiple sites.
  • Skill in conflict resolution to facilitate positive working relationships between employees, team leaders and management.
  • Ability to effectively collaborate with local, VISN and national leadership.

Assignment: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Service chiefs at this level are responsible for managing a unified audiology and speech-language pathology service or equivalent organizational unit in a large, complex or multi-site medical center. They ensure that services provided are of high quality and are consistent with contemporary and evidence-based clinical practice. In providing direction for a specialized and complex service-level department, Service chiefs formulate objectives and priorities and implement plans consistent with the organization's long-term interest, capitalizing on opportunities and managing risks. Service chiefs must demonstrate active problem and conflict resolution skills and maintain effective interdepartmental relationships to accomplish the medical facility's mission and goals. Service chiefs manage budgets, determine resource needs, allocate resources and ensure appropriate service productivity, 15 efficiency and cost-effectiveness. They perform supervisory duties such as preparing personnel actions, performance management; planning, scheduling and assigning work; managing leave; assessing competencies; appraising performance; and recommending clinical privileges or scope of practice. Service chiefs ensure orientation and training programs are established for staff development and oversee academic affiliations, internship and fellowship programs.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit [click to reveal website link]https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range is a GS-14.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

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: [click to reveal website link]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: [click to reveal website link]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.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.