Supervisory Social Worker

Summary

-----------

This position is eligible for

the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

This job is open to

-----------------------

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

This is an External Announcement open to all US Citizens. Current Permanent Federal Employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies must apply under the Internal Announcement# CBTB-12765190-25-CDP to receive Internal Consideration. In accordance with Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) Bulletin, Annual Determination of Staffing Shortages dated 10-01-2024, as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7412, Veteran's Preference will not be applied to this occupation.

Duties

----------

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf

This position is located in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Southeast Network (VISN 7), VA Augusta Health Care System (VAAHCS) in Augusta, Georgia located in the Social Work Service Line. The Supervisory Social Worker at the GS-13 level supervises a significant number of professional and non-professional staff, including advanced practice social workers and social worker program coordinators. The incumbent serves in a clinical and administrative capacity.

Major duties of the Supervisory Social Worker in these clinics include, but are not limited to:

• Ensures that the professional practice of social workers within the service meets or exceeds established policies and standards.
  
• Makes decisions regarding work problems presented by subordinate social work supervisors. Collaborates with others in negotiating, deciding upon, and/or coordinating social work-related changes affecting other programs.
  
• Makes selections for supervisory and non-supervisory positions, hear group grievances and serious employee complaints, review serious disciplinary cases (i.e., those proposing suspensions and removals), and disciplinary problems involving employees.
  
• Develops procedures for and ensures the implementation and achievement of the provision of social work to medical facility patients on inpatient and outpatient programs. Provides, or ensures that professional staff provides, advice, assistance, and consultation to community agencies and councils and other community groups to enhance the provision of social work services to veteran patients in the community.
  
• Develops and monitors standards of clinical practice/standards of care for Social Work, including development of care guidelines, manuals, and guides to professional practice. Develops consistent standard operating procedures required to accomplish clinical care interventions and ensures that they are followed. Incumbent is responsible for developing patient education materials for Social Work Service.
  
• Makes recommendations for recruitment of staff and ensures responsibilities for orientation and continuing education of staff. Evaluates and consults on the social work role in various programs.
  
• Briefs management orally and in writing on a regular basis concerning matters related to Social Work to provide information required to make effective decisions for program planning.
  
• Oversees development of measurable social work treatment protocols and practice models to facilitate the use of statistical processes and analysis tools.
  
• Compiles and disseminates social work quality management findings, actions, and outcomes to social workers, medical center staff, and leadership personnel.
  
• Serves the Medical Center at large in a variety of capacities (committee assignments, investigations, personnel matters, and special projects).
  
• The Primary Care Supervisory Social Worker has supervisory authority over PACT Social Work, CCICM, IPVAP, Post 9/11/M2VA, Advance Care Planning.
  
• The Medicine Inpatient Supervisory Social Worker has supervisory authority over Inpatient/Acute Care, ED, Specialty Care.
  

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm or 7:30am -4:00pm

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact the EDRP Coordinator, Lakita Bush for questions/assistance at lakita.bush@va.gov. Learn more.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. 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: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 52588F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

----------------

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
  
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  
• 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 trial 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 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.
  
• English Language Proficiency. 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Social Worker, GS-13:

(1) Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 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.

AND

(2) Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as supervisory social workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

AND

(3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.

(b) Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.

(c) Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.

(d) Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.

(e) Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems, develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the service.

(f) Ability to provide staff training and development.

(4) 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. Supervisory social workers at the GS-13 grade level typically supervise professional and non-professional staff. They are responsible for the professional and administrative management of an area in a social work service, in a care/product line, or across multiple sites, (e.g., multi-division facilities and CBOCs). Incumbent may also provide direct clinical services.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 dated September 10, 2019. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-13.

Physical Requirements: Extended periods of standing, bending, and carrying light items such as books, medical records and paper is required. Walking long distances throughout the medical center, on units and between divisions is required. Conducting patient encounters in a community setting or in the patient's home environment may be required. Position often places the incumbent in a position of stress. Due to the nature of the work, the incumbent may encounter Veteran patients who are confused, intoxicated, or have a contagious condition. Ability to drive a car and have a valid state license is required. Exposure to dangerous situations in the community from traffic accidents to crime is also possible.
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.

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

========

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.

Review our benefits

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.

How you will be evaluated

-----------------------------

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Required Documents

----------------------

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
  

RESUME REMINDER - Your resume must include the following for each job listed:

1) Job Title and Grade Level/Salary (for all Federal positions you have held). In order to show that you meet time-in-grade, you must document grades you have held and how long you have held them.

2) Duties (you must include enough detailed information to support your specialized experience)

3) Month, day and year start/end dates (e.g. 04/02/2007 to 04/13/2008)

4) Full-time or Part-time status (include HOURS WORKED PER WEEK for each job listed)

5) Full Name and Address of Employer

Resume Must Support Response. Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

RECOMMENDATION: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
  
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
  
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
  
• Disability Letter (VA)
  
• License
  
• Other (1)
  
• PCS Orders
  
• Performance Appraisal
  
• Professional Certification
  
• Resume
  
• Separation Notice (RIF)
  
• SF-15
  
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
  
• Transcript
  

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

----------------

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 08/18/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12765191.

• To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
  

• Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
  

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Agency contact information

Cecelia Perkins

Phone

540-982-2463 X2403

Email

Cecelia.Perkins@va.gov

Address

Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center

One Freedom Way

Augusta, GA 30901

US Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.

Overview

------------

Accepting applications

Open & closing dates

08/06/2025 to 08/18/2025

Salary

$109,380 to - $142,196 per year

Pay scale & grade

GS 13

Location

2 vacancies in the following location:

Augusta, GA

Remote job

No

Telework eligible

No

Travel Required

Not required

Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

Appointment type

Permanent

Work schedule

Full-time - 7:30AM -4:00PM or 8:00AM -4:30PM

Service

Excepted

Promotion potential

None

Job family (Series)

• 0185 Social Work
  

Supervisory status

Yes

Security clearance

Other

Drug test

No

Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process

• Credentialing
  
• Suitability/Fitness
  

Financial disclosure

No

Bargaining unit status

No

Announcement number

CBTB-12765191-25-CDP

Control number

842667100