Pharmacy Technician - Vault

The Outpatient Vault Pharmacy Technician will be assigned tasks within any area of the outpatient pharmacy, vault, clinics, or medication rooms. Additionally, the technician will perform quality assurance activities including medication room inspections within the facility. The incumbent will generally be assigned administrative working hours with the occasional need to assist with staffing thought pharmacy service operational hours, including weekends and holidays.

Major duties

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Outpatient Pharmacy Vault Technician will perform complex program management responsibilities greater than 25% of the time. The technician must have an extensive knowledge of pharmacy policies, purchasing procedures, and the use of specialized software and equipment. Primary functions and responsibilities of the position include prioritizing the workload of the controlled substance vault area and assignments to meet the variable demands of that tour and reporting potential pharmacy staff, provider, patient, or performance problems to the supervisor immediately with appropriate recommendations to improve the identified problems. This position requires the incumbent to possess the ability to track and maintain remote dispensing devices (Omnicell, ScriptPro automation). FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES: Pharmacy Operations Maintain competence in all operational aspects of pharmacy service including specialty equipment and materials, automation, distribution, labeling, packaging, documentation, controlled substance accountability, procurement, and inventory management. Operates and maintains complicated pharmacy equipment including robotic automation (ScriptPro). Ability to troubleshoot in the event of equipment or associated software malfunction, including the ability to request service assistance from VA entities or the equipment vendor. Reads and interprets prescriptions for technical accuracy, completes prescription filling process including labeling and batching prescriptions utilizing robotic automation (ScriptPro) when applicable. For those medications and/or supplies unavailable for fill by robotic automation (ScriptPro), technician manually obtains correct medication or material in the proper strength and dosage form, manually counts, pours, and/or measures correct amount of medication, and manually affixes proper label; records required data in robotic automation (ScriptPro) database or on Pharmacy's copy of prescription/order hardcopy when required. Presents completed prescriptions to pharmacist for final verification prior to dispensing. Will report trends and examine trends in controlled substance use and access for potential diversion, working in tandem with VA police for diversion investigation. Performs emergency drug cache inventory; inspection responsibilities include 72-hour visualization on tags and security numbers, inclusion of cache in monthly inspection program, quarterly inspection opening controlled substance cache storage for visual content inspection and resealing security tags. Checks, rotates, and places into stock all items received from logistics and prime vendor and reconciles any discrepancies to assure the correct stock has been received. Education Demonstrate skill at using both written and verbal communication techniques in teaching others. Assist in new employee orientation, competency assessments, and mentoring as required. Quality Assurance Conduct monthly medication storage area inspections in inpatient wards and outpatient areas for audit purposes. Completes thorough inspections, documents findings, and shares findings with pharmacy management. Maintain a thorough understanding of VA, USP, Joint Commission and other standards for drug handling and storage and monitor in all areas, taking action to maintain security and integrity of all medications. Routinely tours areas serviced by Pharmacy to review appropriate storage of and accounting for controlled substances. Assures all areas comply with medical center policy for controlled substances, maintains specified stock levels of all controlled drugs in each assigned area to ensure patient needs are met in a timely manner, and assures that all documentation is completed as required by the Office of the Inspector General and The Joint Commission standards. Responsible for keeping controlled substance policy and procedures manuals current. Program Management Serve on department or medical center committees as requested. Adhere to all medical center and department policies and procedures. Manage information security within areas of responsibility to ensure that computer system security and confidentiality of sensitive information is maintained, and that employee access to sensitive information is limited only to that which the employee requires to perform their duties. Report and address violations of information security. Maintain the security of pharmaceuticals according to local policies and federal and state regulations. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday through Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications

All requirements must be met at the time of the announcement closing. 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 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 exam and hold an active national certification through either: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR National Healthcareer 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. Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. 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). 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: Pharmacy Technician GS-8: Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (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-8 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.) 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 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. 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-8. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.1.You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.