Pharmacy Technician

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Birmingham (AL); On-site; USD 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs invites applications for the Pharmacy Controlled Substance/Automation Technician role.

This is a certified, highly specialized technician position responsible for first line management of all controlled substances handled by the pharmacy for the assigned area. Applicants pending completion of education or certification may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Responsibilities

• First line management of all controlled substances handled by the pharmacy for the assigned area.
• Must be a certified, highly specialized technician.
• Applicants pending required education/certification may be referred for tentative selection but cannot be hired until all requirements are met.

Job description

The Pharmacy Controlled Substance/Automation Technician is certified, highly specialized technician and is responsible for the first line management of all controlled substances handled by the pharmacy for the assigned area. 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

Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Education or Experience

• None required.
• For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level

Certification

For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification through either:

• Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT).
• National Health career Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).

Grandfathering Provision

Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

• Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
• Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
• Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
• Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Grade Determinations

Pharmacy Technician GS-08

• Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level of GS-07 and demonstrate the KSAs below.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:

PTCB as a CPhT.

OR

NHA as a ExCPT.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs for all GS-08 assignments and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated:

• Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology and policies in a specialized area or section of pharmacy (such as sterile compounding, controlled substances, automation, clinical pharmacy, contact center, etc.) Note: See Specialized Area.in the Definitions Section.
• Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures.
• Ability to evaluate, analyze and coordinate workflow and work activities within a specialized area or section of the pharmacy.

Assignments

For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level have a higher level of responsibility for specialized areas of pharmacy and are expected to independently carry out assigned tasks of considerable difficulty. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level may be appointed to one of the following assignments:

• Pharmacy Technician. Pharmacy technicians in this assignment specialize in areas such as sterile compounding, oncology, controlled substances, medication history review, clinical specialist (anticoagulation, pain, infectious diseases), clinical informatics ,automation, immunizations and any other specialized area in the advancement of the profession. The pharmacy technician will serve as a subject matter expert and key resource in the day-to-day technician duties of the specialized area. The technician will be performing assignments such as compounding sterile products, filling controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining compliance with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulations, taking medication histories and counseling patients, managing automation, managing workflow and training and orienting staff in the specialized area.

Preferred Experience

First consideration given to applicants with VHA experience.

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-08.

Physical Requirements

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, EmployeeOccupational Health Service.