Senior Social Worker - Social Work Service

Qualifications Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until October 26, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be August 6, 2026, with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. 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. 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 chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part) 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 to verify that the social work degree meets the 4 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 Current state requirements may be found by going to English Language Proficiency Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f) Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 (1) Experience/Education The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty (2) Licensure/Certification Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice (c) Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes (d) Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills (e) Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area (4) Assignments 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 Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Physical Requirements: The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, training rooms, and libraries The work area is adequately lit, heated, and ventilated The incumbent must also work outdoors in all types of weather There may be occasional exposure to moderate risks or discomforts in storage areas or hazardous waste sites The work is primarily sedentary, although some physical effort may be required, e.g., walking, standing, climbing ladders, stooping, kneeling, and carrying light items such as manuals or briefcases or driving or traveling by motor vehicle Travel will be for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: national and regional conferences, site visits to other facilities in the VISN or the VISN offices, face-to-face meetings regarding national and regional projects/assignments. ]]>