Supervisory Pharmacy Technician (HSA 5.3 Clinical Contact Center)

As part of the Health System Area (HSA) 5.3 Clinical Contact Center (CCC), the Supervisory Pharmacy Technician is responsible for assisting pharmacy management in providing and coordinating optimal pharmaceutical care activities in the CCC in accordance with the department's mission, vision, and goals. They will be directing the activities of various levels of CCC Pharmacy--planning, organizing, reviewing work, resolving personnel matters, dealing effectively and professionally with employees.

**This position is remote eligible and is currently exempted from return to office (RTO) requirements. Remote exempted positions are reviewed annually and does not imply permanent remote work status. This position may be required to report to an office within the HSA 5.3 catchment area. Selectee must be located (or willing to relocate at their own expense) within 50 miles of a HSA 5.3 VA Facility catchment area --Albuquerque, Greater Los Angeles, Loma Linda, Long Beach, Phoenix, Prescott, San Diego or Tucson.**

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Responsible for administering human resources actions and personnel matters and dealing effectively with employees and union representatives.
• Prepares the tour of duty schedule for the VISN CCC Pharmacy technicians.
• Responsible for approving and denying leave requests, including but not limited to annual and sick leave, for VISN CCC Pharmacy technicians.
• Ensures compliance with established VA and pharmacy policies and procedures.
• Performs quality control of pharmacy technicians' work and calls.
• Completes job performance evaluations, recommendations for awards, and/or disciplinary actions for the VISN CCC Pharmacy technicians and makes recommendations to the VISN CCC Pharmacist Supervisor.
• Participates in the creation and updates of VISN CCC Pharmacy Services standard operating procedures.
• Review service-specific competencies and ensure that existing competencies are relevant and that required non-existing competencies are developed.
• Assists in the interview process and selection of VISN CCC Pharmacy technicians.
• Conducts technician meetings/huddles to assure proper updates of departmental and hospital communications
• Encourages pharmacy technicians to report actual and/or potential medication errors or adverse events and participates in medical center and pharmacy service quality improvement initiatives to promote patient safety.
• Manages workload and demonstrates the ability to prioritize assignments by meeting routine and unexpected deadlines.
• Participates in meetings, conferences, and training programs relevant to the development and maintenance of the VISN CCC Pharmacy Service.
• Continually evaluates the VISN CCC Pharmacy Service for opportunities for improvement.
• Assists in coordinating new employees' on-boarding experience (i.e. new employee training and orientation to computer systems).
• Responsible for implementing and documenting the training and expanding capabilities of pharmacy technicians.
• Identifies continuing education, training needs, etc. and responds to those needs when necessary.
• Assists in preparing and updating the VISN CCC Pharmacy Service training materials.
• Functions as a GS-6, GS-7, or GS-8 Pharmacy Technician when the need arises.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, Rotational Shift Schedule Range 6:00am - 7:00pm PST/PDT
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

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)
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, this position is fully remote.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

**This position is remote eligible and is currently exempted from return to office (RTO) requirements. Remote exempted positions are reviewed annually and does not imply permanent remote work status. This position may be required to report to an office within the HSA 5.3 catchment area. Selectee must be located (or willing to relocate at their own expense) within 50 miles of a HSA 5.3 VA Facility catchment area --Albuquerque, Greater Los Angeles, Loma Linda, Long Beach, Phoenix, Prescott, San Diego or Tucson.**

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education or Experience. For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  • Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). or
  • National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).
• Grandfathering Provision. Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
  • Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
  • Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
  • Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
  • Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
  • Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
• 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.

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 Pharmacy Technician. GS - 09

• Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the lower grade level.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  • PTCB as a CPhT. or
  • NHA as a ExCPT.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated:
  • Expert knowledge serving as a key resource advising others in their particular specialty area or section of the pharmacy (such as procurement, sterile compounding (USP compounding standards), controlled substances DEA, automation, clinical pharmacy, lead tech, contact center, etc.).
  • Skill in analyzing data for self-driven (independent) performance improvement projects, workload analysis and statistical reports.
  • Skill in solving problems and implementing corrective actions to maximize outcomes in their program area.
  • Ability to maintain special accreditations and prepare for national reviews/inspections (e.g., The Joint Commission, Inspector General, American Society of Health System Pharmacists®, controlled substance inspections).
  • Ability to develop training programs and material for orientation, competency development and educational needs for regulatory requirements within the specialized pharmacy program area.
• Assignments. 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. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level may be appointed to one of the following assignments.
  • Supervisory Pharmacy Technician. Supervisory pharmacy technicians are responsible for management and supervision of at least three GS-08 pharmacy technicians. These positions require significant independent technical judgement and expertise in complex areas of pharmacy practice, regulatory requirements and quality standards. They organize, coordinate and manage programs for the pharmacy service at the facility level. These pharmacy technicians will be responsible for communicating with VISN or national pharmacy leadership as well as individual facility leadership and staff.
    • Additional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs).
      • Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders and managers.
      • Ability to utilize staffing methodology principles to determine adequate staffing to coordinate and manage workflow and work activities within pharmacy.
• Preferred Experience: Selectee must have three (3) years of Supervisory/Management Pharmacy Technician experience.
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Position is a full performance level.

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/.

• 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.
• 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).
• 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.