Program Specialist - Controlled Substance Coordinator

Program Specialist - Controlled Substance Coordinator

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): San Antonio, Texas

Salary Range: $62629 - $81423 Per Year

Job Summary: The Controlled Substance Coordinator (CSC) provides operational oversight, manages the Controlled Substance Inspection Program (CSIP), and ensures the Healthcare system is following VA regulations and mandates. The CSC recommends the appointment and release of Controlled substance inspectors (CSIs) into the Controlled Substance Inspection Program. The CSC serves as the medical center expert on controlled substance inspections and trains, manages and leads controlled substance inspectors.

Major Duties:

• Major Duties Include: Serves as the principal advisor on issues of organizational compliance related to controlled substances. Provides timely and accurate reports to the Medical Center Director, Chief of Corporate Compliance, Chief of Police, Chief of Pharmacy Service, ACOS of Research, Associate Director of Patient Care Services, and the Chief of Staff Provides guidance and direction on the implementation and incorporation of the unannounced controlled substance inspections and compliance with related activities at the healthcare system. Reviews and tracks any major discrepancies found during inspections. Provides leadership, advice and recommendations to the Medical Center director through the Corporate Compliance Office relative to the controlled substance program operations and current analysis of the program. Ensures that the health care system is compliant with the Office of Inspector General guidelines throughout the healthcare system. Distributes written policies and procedures and or memorandum that promote commitment to Corporate Compliance and addresses specific areas of risk associated with noncompliance with controlled substance inspections and accountability in accordance with VHA directives. Maintains collaborative working relationships with other VHA CSCs, STVHCS CSIs, STVHCS medical staff, the Executive leadership team (ELT), and other key STVHCS stakeholders. Utilizes staff interviews, inspection reports, and auditing tools to identify risks or weaknesses within the CSI program. Maintains awareness of applicable laws and regulations, keeping apprised on current changes that may affect the Medical Center Controlled substance program through seminars, training programs, conferences, and personal contacts. The incumbent is familiar with the pharmacy medication automation system (i.e., Omnicell System). Establishes procedures for data validation to ensure accurate, timely, and consistent submissions of monthly inspection reports and quarterly trending and statistical data. Provides quarterly trends reports to the Medical Center Director, Chief of Corporate Compliance, Chief of Police, Chief of Pharmacy Service, ACOS of Research, Associate Director of Patient Care Services, and the Chief of Staff summarizing any identified discrepancies, problematic trends, and potential areas for improvement. Participates in external reviews of the organization including Joint Commission, Office of Inspector General, National VHA Pharmacy Benefits Management Committee, and VISN site visit reviews. Develops and updates training materials for CSIs on the responsibilities, duties, and documents related to CS Inspection. Updates additional resources and online reference materials for CSI use. Reviews and analyzes the inspection rotation schedule to ensure compliance with consecutive inspection restrictions and patterns of inspections requirements. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: This position is authorized for ad-hoc telework only. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist - Controlled Substance Coordinator/PD02807A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Physical Demands: The work is generally sedentary with some visits to worksites requiring walking and standing, especially when conducting an inspection. Some bending, stooping, and carrying light items such as paper, binders and medical charts is required. Work involves manual dexterity using a keyboard and personal computer. Communication is either by telephone, email, TEAMs, or in person. Filing and record keeping is a principal activity.

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/23/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: extract and analyze data using basic evaluation techniques; developing and completing reports; review, understand, and apply VHA Directive, policy memorandum, and established procedures; ensure local compliance issues are addressed; develop and deploy a system of internal monitoring; identify potential organization risks and vulnerabilities; complete ongoing review of current literature and regulations, analysis of relevant external oversight reviews; develop new methods and approaches to strengthen programs; reviewing and approving the substance of reports and corrective action plans for accurate reflection of policies; knowledge of the principles, concepts, methods, understanding of medical terminology; knowledge of generic/brand names of pharmaceuticals; knowledge of research pharmaceuticals; knowledge of techniques of compliance auditing as well as knowledge of the principles, methods, applications, and technologies related to the use and control of controlled substances; Knowledge of accessing, reading and deciphering facility electronic and paper health records. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first year of graduate education (18 semester hours) to qualify under the combination requirements. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12910791. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 03/23/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

Application Deadline: 2026-03-23