Social Work Program Manager

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.

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Duties

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This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT & will remain open until September 30, 2026 . The first cut-off date is December 18, 2025 . Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or until the position is filled.

This position is being posted as a Physician, Psychologist, Nurse, and Social Worker. Please apply under the appropriate series.

Physician - CBTB-12842015-26-KW

Psychologist - CBTB-12844581-26-LRD

Nurse - CBTB-12843764-26-HB

Social Worker - CBTB-12844582-26-LRD

VA Careers - Social Work :

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The incumbent directs all Mental Health activities, to include budget and fiscal management, human resource management, strategic planning, clinical end administrative program development, management and evaluation of services and programs, and ensuring that the clinical and administrative functions are integrated in order to provide optimum utilization of resources. Incumbent participates in management discussions, policy making, provides program direction to other directors, managers, and assigned personnel within Mental Health and makes sound decisions in line with law, federal regulations, and policy. The incumbent actively participates in the development of overall management goals, objectives, and philosophies necessary for the attainment of optimum system efficiency and effectiveness in providing recovery focused holistic health care to the Veteran population. The incumbent provides input, advice, and counsel for system strategic planning, programming, budgeting, general administration, and other areas as appropriate.

The incumbent manages a large, diverse service that provides Mental Health care services central to the mission of VAAHCS. The incumbent manages these services across a large geographic catchment area and in all settings across the healthcare system including the main medical center, community outpatient clinics, community resource and referral centers, and community-based staff/programs. Mental Health is a large clinical program area, with oversight of multiple outpatient programs throughout the healthcare system, an inpatient acute care setting, multiple Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (RRTP). Within the Mental Health program spectrum of services there are: Primary Mental Health Ambulatory Care Section, Specialty Mental Health sections, Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery, Homeless and Outreach Services, Health Psychology Section, Psychiatry (Research and Education) and the Administrative Section. Programs include Primary Care/Mental Health Integration, PTSD Clinical Team, Dementia Care, Substance Abuse Treatment, Family Program, Women's Mental Health program, Psychiatric Emergency Services, Therapeutic Supported Employment Services, Local Recovery, the Homeless and Mental Health Rehabilitation and Recovery Treatment Center, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Peer Support, Suicide Prevention, HUD/VASH, Grant and Per Diem, Housing First, two (2) Community Resource and Referral Centers, Veteran's Justice Outreach and the Homeless PACT, collaborations with Readjustment Counseling Services and provides management oversight of multiple discipline training programs with multiple university affiliates.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact View email address on click.appcast.io, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

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 : Ad-Hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 58940F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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 ( 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 Medical Evaluation.
• 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.

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.
• 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.

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 :

Social Worker Program Manager GS-0185-15

Experience/ Education. The social work program manager at the GS-15 grade level must have at least four years of experience as a VA clinical social worker with at least one-year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. The social work program manager must evidence possession of progressively higher supervisory and management skills. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. The individual 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.

Licensure/Certification. The social work manager must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must fully meet the KSAs for the GS-14 grade level and demonstrate all the following professional KSAs:

(a) Ability to manage and direct unusually large interdisciplinary programs, complex organizational units, apply effective management practices, plan, design, implement, and evaluate a program(s) that encompasses a wide range of facility/healthcare system/VISN/CO activities.

(b) Ability to oversee issues related to budget projections and participate with senior leaders from the governing body, management and staff in upholding the facility mission, vision, value and strategic plan to include directly interacting with elected officials on VA related issues/concerns (i.e., members of Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, State and Local entities).

(c) Knowledge in establishing policy, procedures and quality monitors while considering multiple priorities, funding sources, and varying resources.

(d) Skill in assessing need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic patient care venues, coordinate and expand the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system.

(e) Knowledge to complete all program evaluations and documents required by the medical center, VISN and VHA Central Office, ensuring compliance with appropriate accrediting bodies such as The Joint Commission (TJC), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).

(f) Ability to orient, teach and serve as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the clinical social work characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding Veterans, family members and caregivers.

(g) Skill in balancing responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy, set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines; analyze complex organizational problems and develop and implement effective solutions for those problems.

(h) Ability to promote and effectively manage a culturally diverse workforce which embraces the values and needs of all individuals through long-term commitment, strategic and business planning, education, experience which broadens the mindset and by fully managing human resources.

Preferred Experience: 10+ years as Mental Health provider, 3+ years in a leadership position

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-15.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019

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: 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:

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.

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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.

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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.