Supervisory Dental Hygienist

The Supervisory Dental Hygienist serves as the senior clinical and administrative leader for the Dental Hygiene Program within the Central Texas VA health Care System (CTVHCS), providing comprehensive overtight for dental hygiene operations located in Temple, Waco, and Austin.

The incumbent will perform a variety of duties, including but not limited to the following:

• Provides direct supervision, administrative management, and professional oversight of all dental hygienists assigned to existing Temple, Waco, and Austin clinics. Develops staffing plans, workload distribution strategies, clinic schedules, productivity standards, and access improvement initiatives. Conducts recruitment, interviews, onboarding, orientation, competency assessments, performance evaluations, recognition programs, and corrective actions as appropriate.
• Develops and maintains policies, procedures, functional statements, competency assessment tools, and clinical practice guidelines. Monitors compliance with VHA directives, Office of Dentistry requirements, Joint Commission standards, OSHA regulations, infection prevention standards, privacy requirements, and local facility policies.
• Analyzes productivity, access metrics, quality indicators, patient outcomes, recall effectiveness, workload trends, and performance measures. Provides recommendations to leadership regarding resource utilization, staffing requirements, process improvements, and strategic initiatives.
• Provides advanced clinical dental hygiene services including comprehensive periodontal assessments, prophylaxis, scaling and root planning, administration of local anesthesia where authorized, preventive therapies, oral health education, tobacco cessation counseling, and management of medically compromised patients. Serves as a subject matter expert in preventive dentistry, periodontal disease prevention, and oral health promotion.
• Coordinates educational activities, staff development programs, competency validation, continuing education opportunities, and student training experiences. Participates in committees, interdisciplinary teams, performance improvement activities, infection prevention initiatives, and organizational workgroups supporting facility goals.
• The primary duty station and patient care responsibilities will be in Temple. The 25% travel is intended to provide flexibility for occasional visits to Waco or Austin for supervisory responsibilities, staff meetings, or other operational needs, as necessary. Routine travel is not anticipated.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: Supervisory Dental Hygienist/56522-F, CLC: S01
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. Applicants must possess an Associate degree or higher from an accredited dental hygiene program. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved programs are:

1. Dental hygiene programs accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
2. Education completed outside of the United States must be considered at least equivalent to that gained in CODA accredited United States programs and would enable the candidate to sit for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, which is administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.

• Licensure/Certification Applicants must be currently licensed to practice as a dental hygienist with a full, current and unrestricted license in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
• Certification. P.L. 97-35, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Of 1981, requires persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 C.F.R. Part 75, Standards for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for and the Credentialing of Radiologic Personnel. To meet this requirement, they must have successfully completed an educational program that meets or exceeds the standards described in that regulation and is accredited by an organization recognized by the Department of Education and be certified as radiographers in their field. Accredited dental hygiene
• 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.
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
• English Language Proficiency. Dental hygienist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 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:
Dental Hygienist GS-11:
Experience. At least one year of experience at the next lower grade level (GS-10) that demonstrates the clinical competencies described at that level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-10 level, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to work independently to set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within the service;
• Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests, and provide workload analysis in Dental Clinic operations;
• Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team members, managers and other departments; and
• Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which would include responsibility for assignment of work to be performed; competency assessments; performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions.

Preferred Experience:
1. At least 3 years of progressive experience as a Registered Dental Hygienist, with preferably at least 2 years of experience in a Lead Dental Hygienist or supervisory/leadership role.
2. Demonstrated leadership experience in managing, training, and providing professional oversight to dental hygienists and support staff, including staff development, workload distribution, scheduling, and conflict resolution.
3. Strong clinical knowledge and experience in comprehensive dental hygiene care, infection control, patient safety, and compliance with applicable VA/VHA policies, clinical guidelines, and regulatory requirements.
4. Excellent customer service, communication, and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with dental providers, leadership, staff, and interdisciplinary teams.
5. Experience utilizing Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, electronic health record systems, and other applicable clinical/administrative systems for reporting, workload tracking, productivity monitoring, and clinic operations.
6. Experience coordinating dental clinic workflow, managing staff assignments and workload, and implementing process or quality-improvement initiatives to enhance patient access, safety, productivity, and overall clinic efficiency.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination.

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/.

An Associate degree or higher from an accredited dental hygiene program. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved programs are:

1. Dental hygiene programs accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
2. Education completed outside of the United States must be considered at least equivalent to that gained in CODA accredited United States programs and would enable the candidate to sit for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, which is administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

NOTE: If your school was accredited by CODA at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CODA website (https://coda.ada.org/find-a-program), you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

• 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.
• 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 identification 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.