Pharmacist at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS Careers) in Portland, OR

Summary

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ANNOUNCEMENT PRIOR TO SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

This position is located in the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, National Disaster Medical System headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.

When activated with you will be protected by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when you are called to respond to an emergency.

Duties

This position is located with the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). NDMS supports state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) authorities following disasters and emergencies by supplementing health and medical systems and response capabilities. The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, in its role as Coordinator of Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF-8), Public Health and Medical Services, of the National Response Framework, employs the NDMS to provide patient care, patient movement, and definitive care, as well as veterinary services, and fatality management support when requested by authorities from States, localities, Tribes and Territories, or other federal departments. In a disease outbreak, they may provide mass prophylaxis. During a special event, they stand ready to serve in case of an emergency. But no matter what the specific mission is, NDMS teams provide expert patient care that protects individual health and promotes national health security.

1. Independently carries out clinical Pharmacy functions of drug selection, reviewing for drug interactions, compounding, dispensing, and preservation of a wide range of medicines and therapeutic agents.
2. Provides care for victims during a Federal declared mission or other assignment.
3. Advises, interfaces and participates with physicians and other clinical providers in the design of complex drug treatment plans as well as monitoring and evaluating drug therapy for beneficial therapeutic outcome.
4. Makes judgments concerning drug effects and patient behavior, contraindications and adverse effects. Brings potential serious situations to the attention of medical personnel or team leadership.
5. Maintains responsibility for the chain of custody or distribution and accountability of drugs/medications utilized at the disaster or deployment site including narcotic and other controlled substances.
6. Responsible for the management of the pharmacy operation to include forecasting, planning and estimating needs of a complex disaster response pharmacy.
7. Operates within the scope of the pharmacy profession, ensuring adherence to applicable federal laws, regulations, and ASPR policies and procedures.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship required.
Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service - http://www.sss.gov
Suitable for federal employment.
Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. All information concerning qualifications is subject to investigation.
Documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System.
All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
Two-year probationary period may be required.
Immunization required.
Physical Health Standards (Non-Exam Requirements)
Mandatory Training.
Must be capable of review and approval by a standardized systematic Credentialing and Privileging process. Failure to do so could result in separation from employment.
Applicants must be able to distinguish basic colors.

Qualifications

During deployments, the work is primarily related to readiness for and deployment for response during the aftermath of a disaster or public health emergency, where work may be field-based, in a tent environment that is remote and austere, caring for sick, injured, dying, or deceased persons. This work requires above average health, physical, and mental conditioning with routine long periods of repetitive walking, bending, lifting, and carrying, such as carrying NDMS equipment or heavy patients on litters. Incumbent must be capable of working in a high-stress, high security, remote, austere, and uncharacterized environment, void of infrastructure and vital services, requiring specific physical demands, such as the ability to lift 50 pounds, and work characteristics that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. For these reasons, employees are required to complete a physical and health screening process, meet and maintain certain physical standards, as well as mental, behavioral, and cognitive competencies. Work may be performed in an office setting or indoor and outdoor field sites, sometimes in adverse weather. During emergency situations, the work environment may be situated in austere conditions and environment in terms of destroyed infrastructure (e.g., food and water, housing, electricity, communications), the presence of endemic diseases, and limited health and sanitation facilities requiring special safety precautions.

To qualify for this position, you must meet the following basic requirements:

NOTE: If you are an employee currently assigned to a position in this occupational series as of September 2017 you will be considered to have met the basic requirements for the position occupied. A copy of your SF-50 must be submitted with your application.

Basic Requirements at the GS-12 Grade Level

Education:

A doctoral degree in Pharmacy that is recognized by the (ACPE) or an accrediting body recognized by the at the time the degree was obtained.

AND

Professional Work Experience:

Must have a minimum of one year professional pharmacy experience.

AND

Licensure:

Must be licensed to practice pharmacy in a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States with no restrictions on practice in any state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any U.S. territory.

NOTE: A copy of your current, active, full, and unrestricted Pharmacy license with no restrictions on practice in any state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any U.S. territory MUST be submitted with your application to be considered for this position. DO NOT submit a license that is expired at the time you apply.

BLS/ACLS: Must currently possess and maintain a current Basic Life Support (BLS) AND Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training and certification.

NOTE: Current Advanced Life Support or other advanced certification does not supersede BLS or ACLS completion. A copy of your current BLS AND ACLS certification MUST be submitted with your application to be considered for this position. Do NOT submit a certification that is expired at the time you apply.

In addition to the Basic Requirements above applicants must have at least one year of professional pharmacy experience performing all of the below:

Planning, monitoring and evaluating medication programs or regimens regimens to ensure safe, effective, and compliant patient care, demonstrating advanced knowledge in pharmacotherapy and medication management.
Dispensing medications as prescribed by physicians and other healthcare providers and providing essential information to health practitioners and patients on the proper usage, dosage, and potential side effects of medications, ensuring optimal treatment adherence and patient safety.
Establishing and overseeing medication-handling procedures for the storage and preservation of pharmaceuticals, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and safeguarding medication efficacy through proper handling practices.

Note: Experience MUST be fully demonstrated in your resume to be considered for this position.

Documenting your experience:

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) For full-time, part-time, or intermittent work schedules include hours worked per week/deployment.

Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and/or part-time work as a licensed Pharmacist. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position and the total number of hours worked per week.

VOLUNTEER WORK EXPERIENCE: Refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (i.e., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student and social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills that can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience including volunteer experience.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Please read the Qualifications and Required Documents section of this announcement and follow all instructions carefully.

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within the local commuting area(s) of the location identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with any interested selecting official(s) at HHS.

Note: This vacancy will be filled through OPM's Direct Hire Authority. Veterans' Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this announcement. Please for more information on OPM's Authorization of Direct Hire authority. Selections made under this announcement will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would, therefore, be given new appointments to the civil service.

To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link:

Required Documents

Submission of a resume alone IS NOT a complete application. You must provide a complete online Application Package which includes:
1. Online Application Assessment Questionnaire.

2. Resume - You are encouraged to use the USAJobs online resume builder to ensure that all required information is in your resume. Your resume must clearly articulate how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the qualifications section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. For each position you must describe your duties, accomplishments, related skills, and responsibilities. Your resume must also include the day, month, and year that you began and ended for each position held. Full-time employment will be assumed unless otherwise stated on your resume. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Not providing this information may result in the lowering of your assessment score or an ineligible rating. For resume writing guidance, please visit the or view their . Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:*

Job title and Duties (be as detailed as possible)*
Month & year start/end dates (e.g., June 2007 to April 2008)*
Full-time, part-time, intermittent work schedules (include hours worked per week/deployment)*
Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held

3. Transcript(s) - This position requires a doctoral degree in Pharmacy to meet the basic requirement. You must submit a copy of your transcript with your application, showing the degree program and conferred date.

Note: A diploma will not be accepted. Please do not encrypt or password protect documents. Instead, scan each document and save it as a PDF. The system cannot open encrypted files or file types other than PDF and MS Word.

4. License - Copy of current and unrestricted Registered Pharmacist license with no restrictions on practice in any state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any U.S. territory. DO NOT submit a license that is expired at the time you apply.

5. Current Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training and certification. DO NOT submit a certification that is expired at the time you apply.

6. Most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable).

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.