Decedent/Mortuary Affairs Program Manager

Full Job Description

About the Position: This position is located at Defense Health Network Pacific Rim, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA Directorate of Administration Patient Administration.

A recruitment or relocation incentive may be authorized. Salary negotiation may be available for those candidates who are new to Federal service.

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job.

You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected.

30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans Current Civilian Employees of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473 Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998 In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social).

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Specialized Experience GS-09: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting with counseling bereaved family members; assisting with providing in-service training to command personnel involved with the Decedent Affairs Program; Preparing a variety of correspondences using automated systems; assisting with compiling information from a variety of databases in order to provide statistical information as required.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).

OR Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Mortuary Science.

OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%.

To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12.

Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-07).

Major Duties:

• Organize and coordinate the functions of the Decedent Affairs department. Receives notification of deaths of active duty and hospital deaths.
• Contact the command; relays available information; ensures body is properly identified; and ensures that Casualty Assistance Calls Officers are appointed/assigned.
• Determine the primary next of kin based on regulatory definition and the person authorized to direct the disposition of the remains.
• Ensure that remains are properly identified, released only with proper authorization, and that they are dispositioned properly in accordance with state, federal and DoD regulations.
• Provide information and explains to Casualty Assistance Calls Officers the different benefits, e.g., financial assistance, Social Security System, survivor benefits, VA benefits, civil service benefits, education, etc.
• Review deceased's medical and dental records, in conjunction with physician and pathologist, and analyzes the past and current diagnoses to determine if the death should be reported to the County Medical Examiner.
• Monitor active-duty patients placed on Serious/Very Serious List and provides information to area coordinator to ensure a Casualty Assistance Calls Officers is on standby in the event of an active-duty death.
• Responsible for facilitating any request of the legal next of kin and follows up to make sure request has been honored.
• Coordinate with deceased active-duty member's command for information for death certificates, uniforms, escort and consignee mortuary information.