Social Worker Assistant Chief

VA Careers - Social Work: Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Establishes work schedules assigns work to include: assigning cases special assignments/projects committee membership.
• Responsible for developing an annual budget plan.
• Approves purchase orders invoices and oversees contracts that are under their area of responsibility.
• Establishes expectations for performance (i.e. workload productivity goals meeting program benchmarks evaluates performance and takes corrective and/or disciplinary action as needed with subordinate employees.
• Responsible to monitor performance measures that are directly and indirectly impacted by the services provided by programs and program staff under their area of responsibility.
• Oversees the professional practice of licensed and provisionally licensed staff to include peer review OPPE FPPE Scope of Practice and Credentialing/Privileging.
• Develops policies SOPs and other processes to ensure that National VISN and local VHA regulations handbooks and directives are adhered to.
• Evaluates processes and takes the initiative to redesign processes to make work more efficient flexible and Veteran centered.
• Anticipates needs for their service tracks and trends resource utilization and allocates resources accordingly.
• Acts as an expert educates advises and provides consultation.
• Assists the Chief SWS and other care line service chiefs in managing the work of social workers particularly with respect to problems crossing service lines and activities which require joint action.
• Participates with the Chief SWS in service staff meetings and professional staff meetings to manage the overall direction of the profession in keeping with goals and priorities prescribed by the Medical Center.
• Collaborates with the Chief SWS and with other social workers to develop/update and implement practice guidelines to ensure social work professional practice meets or exceeds established policies and community standards.

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 drivers 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 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

*** This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT & will remain open until August 3rd 2026. The initial cutoff date for referral of eligible applications will be February 13th 2026. 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. ***

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 masters 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 masters degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to to verify that the social work degree meets the 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 masters degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 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).

GS 13 Social Worker- Assistant Chief -Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Experience - One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. Individual may have certification or other post-masters 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-. The assistant service chief must evidence possession of supervisory and management skills must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities- In addition to the experience above the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of administrative and supervisory duties which includes personnel actions clinical supervision consultation negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
• Knowledge of legal ethical and professional standards applicable to social work practice.
• Ability to develop maintain and oversee social work programs in all settings.
• Knowledge of social work practice policy and accreditation standards across the continuum of health care.
• Skill in providing consultation to facility leadership managers and other staff on social work qualification standards practice competency productivity and continuing education requirements.

• The candidate must possess evidenced supervisory and management skills be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and be qualified to provide supervision for licensure.
• Proficiency in personnel actions clinical supervision consultation negotiation with other departments and quality improvement is essential.
• Strong understanding of the legal ethical and professional standards related to social work practice. Program Development & Oversight: Ability to develop maintain and manage social work programs in various settings.
• Deep knowledge of social work practice policy and accreditation standards across the continuum of health care.
• Competence in providing consultation to facility leadership managers and other staff on social work qualification standards practice competency productivity and continuing education requirements.