Supervisory Dental Hygienist

Veterans Health Administration•Temple, TX

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Supervisory Dental Hygienist serves as the senior clinical and administrative leader for the Dental Hygiene Program within the Central Texas VA Health Care System, providing oversight of dental hygiene operations at clinics in Temple, Waco, and Austin. The primary duty station and patient care responsibilities are in Temple. The position may involve occasional travel to Waco or Austin for supervisory responsibilities, staff meetings, or other operational needs; routine travel is not anticipated. The stated travel allocation is 25%. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Telework is unavailable, and the position is not virtual. The incumbent supervises and manages dental hygienists and clinic operations, including staffing, schedules, productivity, recruitment, onboarding, competency assessment, performance evaluation, and corrective actions. The role develops policies and clinical guidance, monitors compliance with applicable VA/VHA and other standards, analyzes workload and quality measures, and advises leadership on resources and operational improvements. The position also provides advanced dental hygiene care, including periodontal assessment and treatment, preventive therapies, oral health education, tobacco cessation counseling, and care for medically compromised patients. It serves as a subject matter expert in preventive dentistry and periodontal disease prevention, coordinates staff development and educational activities, and participates in committees, interdisciplinary teams, and improvement initiatives.

Requirements

Associate degree or higher from an accredited dental hygiene program; the program must be accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), or foreign education must be deemed equivalent.
Current, full, and unrestricted license to practice as a dental hygienist in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
At least one year of experience at the next lower grade level (GS-10) demonstrating the clinical competencies required at that level.
Ability to set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement solutions to improve quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity.
Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests, and provide workload analysis in dental clinic operations.
Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills, including interpersonal relations and conflict resolution with employees, team members, managers, and other departments.
Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties, including assigning work, conducting competency assessments and performance evaluations, selecting staff, and recommending awards, advancements, and disciplinary actions when appropriate.
Proficiency in spoken and written English.
U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated VA policy regarding non-citizen appointments.
Meet radiologic personnel credentialing requirements if administering radiologic procedures.
Meet the physical requirements applicable to the occupation.
Complete required pre-employment screening, onboarding, identification, background/security investigation, and applicable drug testing; participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is required.
Serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to the conditions described in the announcement.

Nice To Haves

At least three years of progressive experience as a Registered Dental Hygienist, preferably including at least two years in a lead, supervisory, or leadership role.
Leadership experience managing, training, and providing professional oversight to dental hygienists and support staff, including staff development, workload distribution, scheduling, and conflict resolution.
Strong clinical knowledge and experience in comprehensive dental hygiene care, infection control, patient safety, and compliance with VA/VHA policies, clinical guidelines, and regulatory requirements.
Excellent customer service, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with dental providers, leadership, staff, and interdisciplinary teams.
Experience using Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, electronic health record systems, and other clinical or administrative systems for reporting, workload tracking, productivity monitoring, and clinic operations.
Experience coordinating dental clinic workflow, managing staff assignments and workload, and implementing process or quality-improvement initiatives to improve patient access, safety, productivity, and clinic efficiency.

Responsibilities

Provide direct supervision, administrative management, and professional oversight of dental hygienists assigned to the Temple, Waco, and Austin clinics.
Develop staffing plans, workload distribution strategies, clinic schedules, productivity standards, and initiatives to improve patient access.
Conduct recruitment, interviews, onboarding, orientation, competency assessments, performance evaluations, recognition programs, and corrective actions as appropriate.
Develop and maintain policies, procedures, functional statements, competency assessment tools, and clinical practice guidelines.
Monitor compliance with VHA directives, Office of Dentistry requirements, Joint Commission standards, OSHA regulations, infection prevention standards, privacy requirements, and local facility policies.
Analyze productivity, access metrics, quality indicators, patient outcomes, recall effectiveness, workload trends, and performance measures.
Recommend resource utilization, staffing requirements, process improvements, and strategic initiatives to leadership.
Provide advanced clinical dental hygiene services, including comprehensive periodontal assessments, prophylaxis, scaling and root planing, local anesthesia where authorized, preventive therapies, oral health education, tobacco cessation counseling, and management of medically compromised patients.
Serve as a subject matter expert in preventive dentistry, periodontal disease prevention, and oral health promotion.
Coordinate educational activities, staff development programs, competency validation, continuing education opportunities, and student training experiences.
Participate in committees, interdisciplinary teams, performance improvement activities, infection prevention initiatives, and organizational workgroups supporting facility goals.
Provide patient care primarily in Temple and travel occasionally to Waco or Austin for supervisory responsibilities, staff meetings, or other operational needs.