Audiologist - Chief

Veterans Health Administration • Houston, TX

26d • Onsite

About The Position

This Supervisory Audiologist position is in the Audiology Section of the Operative Care Line at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. The position serves as a service chief and spends 25% or more of its time providing technical and administrative supervision. It manages a stand-alone service, product line, or service line, with line and staff authority for resource allocation and responsibility for efficient operations. The role carries broad responsibility for clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management, and staff supervision, as appropriate. It autonomously manages substantive parts of specialized, complex professional services that significantly affect Veterans’ care and provides leadership through objective assessments and recommendations on policy, operational, and administrative matters.

The service chief plans, assesses, and evaluates programs; coordinates program care with overall health care delivery at the facility; interprets data related to program planning and the specialized needs of Veterans, the service, and the medical center; and ensures compliance with accreditation and regulatory requirements. The role coordinates and vets policies and issues, advises leadership on policy implications and relationships with internal and external interest groups, maintains interdepartmental relationships, and negotiates resolutions to complex problems. It may prepare sensitive or complex reports and responses, including Congressional responses, briefing papers, issue briefs, and decision papers.

The position is responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, including budget execution. Duties include developing policies and procedures and potentially performance standards, position descriptions, and functional statements; conducting performance appraisals; managing staff; and, as needed, setting training objectives and delegating responsibilities to subordinate sections. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, either 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. or 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Telework is not available, and the position is not virtual.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated VA exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Doctor of Audiology (AuD) from an ACAE- or ASHA CAA-recognized audiology program, or another doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an appropriately accredited institution.
• Full, current, unrestricted doctoral-level audiology license in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• At least two years of professional audiologist experience, including at least one year comparable to the next lower grade level.
• Ability to evaluate programs to ensure efficient and appropriate integration of care.
• Ability to develop contingencies and align resources to achieve program goals.
• Ability to interpret and apply facility, VISN, and national audiology and speech pathology services policies.
• Ability to create service-level policies and priorities aligned with the facility strategic plan.
• Ability to supervise professional staff.
• Valid, unrestricted state driver's license and a safe driving record.
• Must pass a pre-employment physical evaluation and background/security investigation; seasonal influenza vaccination is required for VA health care personnel.
• Must complete the required online onboarding and application requirements and serve a one- or two-year trial period.
• Foreign education used to meet requirements must be evaluated by a qualified credential interpretation organization and deemed equivalent to U.S. education; required foreign-education documentation must be submitted.
• Education or degrees used to qualify must be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and awarded by an accredited institution.

Nice To Haves

• Five years of experience as an audiologist working in a clinical setting is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical and administrative supervision for at least 25% of work time.
• Manage a stand-alone service, product line, or service line, including resource allocation and efficient operations.
• Oversee clinical practice, program management, education, human resource management, and supervision for the service, as appropriate.
• Manage complex professional services that significantly affect Veterans’ care and provide independent assessments and recommendations on policy, operational, and administrative issues.
• Plan, assess, and evaluate programs and coordinate program care with the medical center’s overall health care delivery.
• Interpret program and service data related to planning and the needs of Veterans, the service, and the medical center.
• Ensure compliance with accreditation and regulatory requirements and initiate corrective action as needed.
• Coordinate, vet, and staff policies and issues; advise leadership on policy implications, key issues, stakeholder relationships, and recommended actions.
• Maintain interdepartmental relationships and negotiate resolutions to complex problems.
• Prepare reports and responses, including Congressional responses, briefing papers, issue briefs, and decision papers, as requested.
• Manage the assigned area professionally and administratively, including budget execution.
• Develop policies and procedures and, as appropriate, performance standards, position descriptions, and functional statements.
• Conduct staff performance appraisals and other clinical and administrative staff-management duties.
• Set training objectives and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections, as needed.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package; eligibility and specific benefits depend on position status and other applicable factors.
• Selected applicants may request consideration of prior federal or military service for annual leave accrual credit; approval is not guaranteed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree