Therapy Assistant

About the role

This position is located in Community Living Center of the Inpatient Geriatric Services Department of the Nursing Services Directorate. In cooperation with and under the direction and guidance of the assigned Recreation Therapist, plans and implements a variety of Recreation Therapy modalities, making frequent and comprehensive changes in procedures and modalities to assist the patient in overcoming social/emotional and physical disabilities. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/29/2026. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant Series 0636 Individual Occupational Requirements Experience Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. OR Education and Training: For GS-3: Successful completion of l year of study. For GS-4: Successful completion of 2 years of study in a program directly related to the specialized field of therapy. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is physically active and requires walking, standing, lifting, pushing, and driving of vehicles. Moderate lifting (15-44 pounds), Moderate carrying (15-44 pounds), Straight pulling (1.5 hours), Pulling handover hand (2.5 hours), Pushing (2.5 hours), Reaching abo e shoulder, Use of fingers, Both hands required, Walking (2.5 hours), Standing (4 hours), Crawling (0.75 hours), Kneeling (0.75 hours), Repeated bending (3.5 hours), Climbing legs only (0.5 hour), Both legs required, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously. 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/.