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Posted: February 25, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Pharmacist - Associate Service Chief

Veterans Health Administration

Department of Veterans Affairs

Fresh

Salary

$163,758 - $212,892

per year

Closes

March 9, 2026More VA jobs →

GS-14 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $104,604 - $135,987

Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience at GS-13. Senior expert or supervisor.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This leadership role in a Veterans Affairs hospital involves overseeing electronic health records, quality assurance, procurement, and academic programs for the pharmacy department, ensuring smooth operations and high standards of patient care.

A good fit would be an experienced pharmacist with strong management skills who is passionate about improving healthcare systems and training future professionals in a veteran-focused environment.

Key Requirements

  • United States citizenship (non-citizens only if qualified citizens unavailable)
  • Proficiency in spoken and written English
  • Graduate of an ACPE-accredited pharmacy program with BS Pharmacy or Pharm.D. degree (or equivalent foreign certification via FPGEC)
  • Full, current, unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a U.S. state, territory, or D.C.
  • At least 1 year of experience equivalent to GS-13 level in professional pharmacy practice
  • Knowledge of professional pharmacy practices, including leadership in clinical guidance and implementation
  • Residency or fellowship training in clinical pharmacy (accredited by ASHP or ACCP) may substitute for experience

Full Job Description

The Electronic Health Record (EHR), Quality, Procurement, and Academic Affairs Associate Chief is responsible for providing leadership, direction, coordination, clinical guidance, organization, planning, and implementation of EHR systems, quality assurance and academic affair processes for the John D.

Dingell VAMC. 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. English Language Proficiency.

Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

Education: Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.

D.) degree.

Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone (312) 664-3575, or through their website at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/.

(NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program.

Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.); OR, Graduate of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT).

Licensure: Full, current, unrestricted, and unexpired license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia.

The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure.

A pharmacist who has or has eve had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only IAW the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16.

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).

Creditable Experience Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices.

To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice.

Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. Residency and Fellowship Training.

Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for- year basis.

The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP).

A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination).

Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level.

Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination.

Grade Determinations: GS-14 Experience: In addition to the GS-13 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Associate Service Chief/ Associate CMOP Director.

Responsible for coordinating multiple programs in pharmacy service in a medical facility. Serves as the Acting Service Chief in the absence of the Service Chief.

Develops and maintains a system of internal reviews that ensure service programs operate at a satisfactory level of performance and in compliance with regulatory and accrediting bodies.

Responsible for pharmacy utilization of resources and budget. Makes selections, assigns personnel, and serves as a mentor to help employees develop their full potential. Demonstrated KSAs.

The KSAs shown below apply to all assignments at this grade level: Skill in persuading others and gaining cooperation to accomplish goals.

Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing regarding complex clinical and technical issues.

Skill in utilizing regulatory and quality standards to develop and implement operational programs. Skill in managing multiple and diverse people or programs.

Skill in utilizing available resources to support the mission and goals of the organization. Ability to plan, organize and direct the functions of the pharmacy staff.

Preferred Experience: ASHP accredited PGY 1 residency training or equivalent experience, ASHP accredited PGY2 residency training or equivalent, experience Pharmacy resident precepting experience, Program Management experience and/or management of team.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 14.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is 14.

Physical Requirements: Light to heavy lifting (under 15 pounds to 45 pounds and over), as needed light to heavy carrying (under 15 pounds to 45 pounds and over), straight pulling (1 hour), pushing (2 hours), reaching over shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (5 hours), standing (7 hours),sitting (2 hours), repeated bending (2 hours), both legs required, near vision correctable at 13 to 16 to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, working alone, protracted or irregular hours of work.

Must be able to distinguish basic colors with ability to distinguish shades of color. This position may require heavy lifting and carrying, 45 pounds and over.

Requires routine standing, bending, and stooping/squatting.

As needed - pushing, walking, standing, reaching over shoulder, use of fingers, both hands and legs required, walking and standing up to four hours per tour, near vision correctable at 13' to 16' to Jaeer 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, hearing (aid permitted).

The work environment is inside a pharmacy - there may be extremes of temperature, distractions and noise. Must be able to don and work with protective work garments and equipment as necessary.

Major Duties:

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws The incumbent works independently under the Chief of Pharmacy Service and keeps them apprised of trends/problems associated with their assigned areas.

The primary responsibility of the position is to assume responsibility for the administration and operations of key EHR activities, quality assurance, academic affairs areas of work for the pharmacy service.

Specifically, the Associate Chief is responsible for collaborating with pharmacy staff to ensure issues related to EHR are identified and addressed to help ensure patient safety needs are met.

This position is also responsible for assessing and coordinating quality assurance and quality improvement initiatives.

Lastly, the position is also responsible for overseeing activities related to the teaching of students, pharmacy practice residents, pharmacy interns, and academic detailers.

Additionally, the incumbent will develop, conduct and report quality assurance monitors for medication safety; develop and coordinate the Pharmacy Quality Improvement program, serve on hospital or departmental committees as requested; work with the pharmacy leadership to ensure regulatory and compliance are consistently attained to meet accrediting bodies standards; present and document in-service education programs to pharmacy staff and other health professionals related to medication safety, and manage the quality improvement program for the pharmacy service.

The Associate Chief promotes the culture of a High Reliability Organization with a focus on reporting, collecting data and continuously improving processes for medication safety.

The Associate Chief will provide expertise relating to medication safety to include oversight of the appropriate prescribing, dispensing, and administering of medications, in particular as it pertains to the EMR.

The Associate Chief must be able to provide results of reviews and evaluations in a concise, usable manner.

The Associate Chief has oversight of the EHR as it pertains to pharmacy operational and clinical activities, maintains a quality improvement program and ensures compliance with applicable regulations related to academic affiliations.

Functions or Scope of Assigned Duties: 1. EHR Program Management 2. Quality Program Management 3. Procurement Management 4. Academic Affairs Program Management 5.

Administrative/ Supervision Performs other related duties as assigned, which may include traditional pharmacist duties.

Work Schedule: 7:30a- 4:00p or 8:00a- 4:30p or as needed based on needs of the service. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 94274-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

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Posted on USAJOBS: 2/25/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 2/26/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: CBSR-12896130-26-MG