Summary VA Portland Health Care System is a Complexity Level 1a Facility and provides extensive primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care in outpatient, inpatient, residential, and community settings. VAPORHCS is a multi-site medical system that includes a major medical facility in Portland, Oregon, outpatient and residential facilities in Vancouver, Washington, and 10 Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Responsibilities The duties of this position include but are not limited to the following: - Provide diagnostic microscopic interpretation of cellular samples from a variety of body sites. It results in direct patient contact to provide interpretive diagnostic results for clinics, with immediate patient treatment and triage implications. - Reviews health records to correlate patient history with diagnosis. - Is proficient with manual image analysis and diagnostically interprets atypical cells, precursor lesions and primary cervical cancer. - Performs an integral part of determining appropriate patient triage from the specimen obtained by FNA for further diagnostic studies. - Oversees administrative, clerical and technical support activities of other personnel within the department by coordinating workload and administrative duties. - Provides supervisory level quality assurance oversight of peers by re-screening 10% of negative and 100% of all high-risk cases. - Mentors and trains technicians, junior cytologists and others in technique, instrumentation and organization of work. - Teaches pathology residents and physicians diagnostic cytology criteria through microscopic sessions. - Participates in providing health instruction to physicians, patients and community groups. - Assists the Medical Director and resident physicians with research project by formulating research hypotheses and study designs. - Assures compliance with quality assurance/control and proficiency testing programs, safety standards, accreditation requirements and departmental policies. - The incumbent creates, implements, maintains, and evaluates procedures and policies in Cytology to ensure compliance with accrediting agency standards - Establishes, performs and monitors quality control programs. - Provides consultative cytology services to regional sites. - Maintains professional proficiency (through annual PAP PT and CE programs). - Performs other duties as assigned. - Subjective microscopic evaluations based on agency and hospital policies/regulations, technical references, laboratory manuals, professional organizations, and academic background, training and experience. - Any written guidelines are supplemented by professional judgment on the part of the incumbent to ensure all general regulations are enforced within the laboratory. - Interpreting applicability of guidelines in matters of specimen identification, processing, recording, and quality control. - Interpreting, selecting or designing procedures and methods in response to laboratory considerations. - Knowledge of medical and pathologic processes to triage specimen to appropriate ancillary diagnostic tests such as flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry, based on minimal information and without written guidance. - Incorporating new molecular techniques such as DNA testing for viruses, cytogenetic analysis of tumors, molecular markers of disease into the triage and evaluation of the specimen. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 08:00AM - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment 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. You may be required to serve a probationary period. 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 dentification 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). Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov Qualifications 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. English Language Proficiency. Cytotechnologists must be proficient in spoken and written English. See 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Education. Individuals must have successfully completed a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university and successfully completed a Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs accredited cytotechnology program. Certification. Candidates must currently possess the Cytotechnologist (CT) (ASCP) or Specialist in Cytotechnology (SCT) (ASCP) certification given by the ASCP Board of Certification. Grade Determinations:Cytotechnologist, GS-11:Experience. The candidate must have one year of creditable experience equivalent to the journey level (GS-9) that is directly related to the position to be filled. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs i. - iv. and the advanced KSA as identified by the corresponding asterisk(s): i. Ability to independently determine specimen adequacy using complex specialized testing methods or techniques during Endoscopic Ultrasound, Endobronchial Ultrasound, and other Fine Needle Aspiration procedures. ii. Knowledge of pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical processes to establish and monitor the overall laboratory quality management and quality control program, and initiate corrective action as needed. iii. Skill in collecting, compiling, and analyzing data for quality assurance, statistics, trends and reports, and implementing quality improvement initiatives. iv. Skill in researching, testing, validating, and implementing new procedures and equipment. v. **Ability to perform ultrathin microtomy and operate an electron microscope. Knowledge of microanatomy sufficient to note ultrastructural and microchemical findings. vi. ***Ability to convey knowledge of safety regulations and guidelines such as CAP, JC, and OSHA, and to ensure staff compliance with safety requirements, including continuing education and employee orientation. vii. ****Knowledge and skill to plan and administer an ongoing continuing education program for the laboratory to meet accreditation standards. viii. *****Skill to maintain and troubleshoot computers and laboratory system instrumentation. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. 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/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.