Outpatient Supervisory Pharmacy Technician

This position is assigned to the outpatient pharmacy located within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), under the Pharmacy Service Line. The certified GS-9 Pharmacy Technician Supervisor is responsible for the supervision of all Pharmacy non-pharmacist technical staff and volunteers.

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

Duties of the position include, but are not limited to:

Primary Functions

Supervisory Activities:
(1) Develop the work schedule, plan and grant leave and rotate duties of the pharmacy technician staff. Assures that personnel are scheduled in such a way as to provide consistency of coverage and to accommodate planned leave and promote employee morale, is responsible for tracking and submitting pharmacy technicians time biweekly.
(2) Effectively manages technical staff to assure workflow is optimized within assigned service area. Continuously analyzes and reassesses priorities, redirecting staff to assure that workload demands are accomplished in the most effective, efficient, and economic manner possible.
(3) Coordinate day-to-day maintenance and operation of pharmacy area equipment and automation.
(4) Assist with the development of performance standards that are realistic, challenging, and supporting the organizational mission, vision, and goals. Responsible for ensuring all employees meet performance standards and competencies. Identify areas for improvement as needed.
(5) Assists the Chief of Pharmacy in interviewing and selecting new employees and candidates for promotion and/or reassignment. Make recommendations of employees for performance awards and other forms of recognition.

Technical Duties:
(1) Prepare various management reports as delegated to include, but not limited to: High-cost drug inventory, ward stock, automation, competency, and controlled substance reports.
(2) Assists pharmacy supervisors and staff to identify areas of duplication of efforts and develops solutions to streamline processes, reduce waste, save costs, and improve patient care.
(3) Develop and implement necessary administrative audits such as wait time audits and workflow analysis.
(4) Effectively evaluates pharmacy activities to assist management to obtain short- and long-range objectives and goals.
(5) Properly operates all equipment in the assigned area(s) in an efficient manner and assist with troubleshooting automated dispensing equipment (ADE), other assigned equipment's or technology platforms/databases.

Quality and Regulatory Duties:
(1) Assists in preparation of national, local, and special accreditations of pharmacy service. (Joint Commission, Inspector General, Controlled Substance Inspections, Drug Enforcement Agency) This includes documentation record updates, development of specific training and preparation of staff and compliance of policy and procedures.
(2) Proactively evaluates and analyzes data for self-driven (independent) performance improvement projects, workload analysis and statistical reports.(3) Assures drugs and supplies are appropriately stored and secured according to USP and VA guidelines, including the storage of high-risk, look a-like sound a-like, hazardous, controlled substances, corrosive chemical, flammable liquids, and refrigerated items.

Outpatient Duties:
(1) Will perform any duties of a pharmacy technician when the needs of the service require.
(2) Assists with inputting prescription and medication orders in electronic prescription platform or equivalent.
(3) Accurately interpret, fills, and prepares prescriptions with appropriate medications and or medical supplies for pharmacist verification.
(4) Assures the timely completion of all prescriptions.
(5) Verifies the patient's identification following the Medical Center's policies (i.e., double patient identifiers) and verifies that patient receives the correct prescriptions by using VA software.
(6) Utilizes and comprehends the mail shipping programs used by the facility (i.e., USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.) for overnight delivery of non-controlled and controlled prescriptions.

Work Schedule:Monday- Friday 7:30am- 4:00pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
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: 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).
• Education or Experience:
  • None required.
  • 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).
  • National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).

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).

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.

Grade Determinations: Supervisory Pharmacy Technician, GS-09

• Experience. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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: At least 3 years of technician experience and supervisory experience preferred. Must be willing and able to supervise as well as assist in daily pharmacy technician functions. Strong customer service skills preferred.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005/159, Part II, Appendix G28; Pharmacy Technician Qualification Standards dated November 07, 2023.

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-9.

Physical Requirements: Physical requirements for this position are as follows: Light lifting, 15-25 pounds with occasional heavier lifting. Light carrying, 15-25 pounds with occasional heavier carrying. Straight pulling (up to 2 hours). Pushing (up to 2 hours). Reaching above shoulder. Use of fingers. Repeated bending. Walking (up to 8 hours). Standing (up to 8 hours). Ability to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as needed.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/.

• 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 evaluation/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.