Senior Social Worker (Complex Pain Medicine)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 113,000 - 147,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Child Care Subsidy

Traditional federal pension

Telework: Ad-hoc

Federal health benefits

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Senior Social Worker for the Complex Pain Medicine program at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS).

The role centers on case management, direct clinical services for Veterans, psychoeducation, care coordination, and administrative coverage within the pain clinic. The incumbent will conduct biopsychosocial assessments, coordinate across multiple teams, provide group programming, and contribute to program improvement and staff

Responsibilities

• Provide expert guidance on issues Veterans in the Complex Pain Clinic experience, including mental health conditions and psychosocial stressors.
• Conduct comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments addressing trauma history, substance use, mental health, and functional limitations.
• Lead care coordination for high CAN-score Veterans across Pain Medicine, PM&R, pharmacy pain programs, psychology, and community providers.
• Deliver clinic-wide psychoeducation, orientation groups, and self-management programming for chronic pain.
• Engage in peer review, quality-improvement projects, and program development to enhance access and continuity of care.
• Supervise social work students or junior staff and advise on policy changes based on clinical experience.

Job description

Senior Social Worker (Complex Pain Medicine)

• Department: Department of Veterans Affairs
• Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm or 7:30am-4:00pm

The Senior Social Worker (Complex Pain Medicine) is assigned to the Complex Pain Clinic, a specialized PACT Team within the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS). The Senior Social Worker provides case management, direct clinical services for Veterans, psychoeducation, care coordination and administrative coverage within the STVHCS.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Social Worker is responsible for providing expert guidance about issues Veterans in the Complex Pain Clinic experience which includes but is not limited to mental health conditions, substance use disorders, social isolation, and financial instability.

Duties include, but are not limited to: Conducts comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments addressing the multifactorial contributors to chronic pain, including trauma histories, substance use patterns, mental health conditions, psychosocial stressors, and functional limitations.

Serves as the lead care coordinator for Veterans with high Care Assessment Need (CAN) scores or complex medical, behavioral, and psychosocial profiles, ensuring warm hand-offs and integrated care across Pain Medicine, PM&R, pharmacy pain programs, psychology, and community providers. Offers clinic-wide psychoeducation, orientation groups, and specialized group programming addressing chronic pain self-management, coping skills, and behavioral activation.

Engages in peer review, case conferences, quality-improvement projects, and self-evaluation activities to maintain advanced practice competency. Tracks clinic access patterns, psychosocial complexity trends, encounter volume, community care utilization, and care-coordination outcomes to inform program improvement activities. Identifies family/caregiver stressors and conducts assessments and provides specific interventions or referrals on their behalf.

Liaises between Veterans, VA pain specialists, and community pain treatment resources, ensuring timely access and optimizing continuity of care. Participates in program expansion efforts, workflow redesign, and clinic optimization activities to support STVHCS pain program growth and reduce access barriers.

Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on pain-program access, specialty referrals, treatment expectations, community resources, advance directives, VA benefits and strategies for maximizing engagement with multidisciplinary care.

Actively participates in program planning and development, advising the supervisor of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes based upon work experiences. Works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to strive to develop more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to Complex Pain Medicine Veterans.

Serves as a consultant and subject matter expert on psychosocial factors affecting chronic pain, providing guidance to interdisciplinary staff, assisting with training of new team members, and contributing to clinic-wide process improvements and service coordination. Participates in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the social work supervisor. Addresses Advance Directives in accordance with the standards of their work area.

Supervises the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker, as appropriate. Follows STVHCS standard operating procedures for evaluating and mitigating suicide risk. Completes other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm or 7:30am-4:00pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Ad-hoc only, as determined by the Agency policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 56223-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements & Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $112783 – $146621/yr.

Is this position remote or telework eligible?

This position is eligible for telework.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-30.

What is the work schedule?

This is a Monday - Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm or 7:30am-4:00pm position.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Internal Search' hiring path.