Pharmacist (Clinical Specialist)

Pharmacist (Clinical Specialist)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Fort Thomas, Kentucky

Salary Range: $144507 - $187862 Per Year

Job Summary: The Cincinnati VA Medical Center is looking for a licensed professional with knowledge and proficiency in pharmacy practice. This employee will be the Outpatient Mental Health Pharmacy Program Manager Pharmacist at Fort Thomas Division (FTD) who functions as the pharmacist program manager as a drug therapy expert with a comprehensive Scope of Practice which may include limited prescriptive authority, monitoring drug therapy, ordering laboratory tests, and other specified clinical functions.

Major Duties:

• The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division. Duties: Program Management: Manages inventory at the Fort Thomas Division Pharmacy including controlled and non-controlled medications. Oversees the Omnicell inventory management for the assigned programs. Serves as Supervisory Pharmacist when designated Oversees daily tasks of the FTD Pharmacy Technician. Clinical: Evaluates a variety of patients, which may include patients followed by the FTD Mental Health programs, and patients referred to the FTD Pharmacy PTSD Clinic. Makes appropriate recommendations on drug therapy, assesses efficacy and toxicity, and develops pharmaceutical care plans, including establishment of outcome goals. Under a scope of practice, implements the pharmaceutical care plan. Serves as a liaison between Pharmacy Service and the assigned Mental Health Care Line clinical, education, and research areas. Assists in the management of medical emergencies. Completes comprehensive suicide risk assessment and refer to appropriate clinicians when needed. Completes clinical reminders and screenings as relevant to psychiatric and substance use disorders care and treatment. Assists in treatment planning that ensures continuity of care for patients leaving the programs. Works with patients who have been identified as having compliance/adherence issues with their medications. Serves as a consultant within Pharmacy Service, and with other facility healthcare staff in monitoring and evaluating healthcare delivery to inpatient and outpatient mental health patients. Participates in the focused and ongoing professional practice (FPPE & OPPE) evaluation process. Dispensing: Evaluates and processes providers' orders for the FTD program patients, clarifying unclear orders with the provider when necessary. Reviews medication orders for appropriateness, drug selection, dosage, route of administration and the amount, prior to dispensing. Ensures medication orders are entered into the electronic patient medical record. Reviews patients' allergy history, drug-drug, drug-nutrient, drug-laboratory and drug-disease state interactions and assesses for clinical relevance. Provides pharmacist staffing assistance in the Outpatient Pharmacy as scheduled by supervisor. Education/Research: Serves as a role model and preceptor for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents. Assumes an active role in the overall pharmacy-training program consisting of students, interns, residents, and professional and non-professional staff members. Conducts on-the-job training and provides guidance through designated programs. Assumes an active role in staff development of peers and provides educational in-services to nursing, medical staff, or to other ancillary services as appropriate. The pharmacist is responsible for maintaining his/her professional competency by keeping abreast of current medical and pharmaceutical literature, new drugs and therapies, and applies this knowledge in her/her daily duties. Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: AD HOC, per agency policy discretion. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 91249-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: 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. Education (1) 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 Web site 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.) (2) Graduates 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 and unrestricted 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 is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16. Failure to Obtain License. In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unlicensed pharmacist with the written requirement to obtain licensure, the date by which the license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming licensed by the deadline. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). 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). Grade Determinations: GS-13 Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs: Grade Determinations: GS-13 Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs: a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. e. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Preferred Experience: At least one year of experience as a mental health pharmacist and PGY2 MH residency training. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 13. Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary in nature. Work requires moderate lifting, walking, bending, stooping, standing, pushing, and pulling.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 05/05/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12946199. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2026-05-05