The VA research program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value-driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden. The position is vital within the Office of Research & Development and the facilities where research programs are conducted. Health Science Specialists provide the link between Veterans and highly innovative projects. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/29/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. AND Individual Occupational Requirement: Education. Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education(external link) at the time the degree was obtained. NOTE: Transcripts are REQUIRED. Applicants who meet the Individual Occupational Requirement above 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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Develop and implement policies, procedures, and criteria for the administration of a health science research program, Conduct data collection and monitoring protocols to a wide range of clinical studies, develop new methods, approaches, or procedures in the coordination of research projects/clinical studies, perform complex analytical studies and interpretation of results to coordinate the evaluation of medical/scientific program, and recommend improvements. 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 (TRANSCRIPTS 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 a Bachelor's degree (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp. ["This is a bargaining unit position. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Total Rewards Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available Telework: Available Duty Location Status: Will work from a VA owned or leased space Position Description Title/PD#: Health Science Specialist/ PD99718S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary with occasional walking, standing, and handling and carrying items such as paper and books. There may be occasion needs to assist study participants with mobility to study location(s). Some travel will be required. Major Duties: Manage Implementation, control, and reporting on clinical tests Implement data collection and monitor protocols for difficult clinical research studies Record data from samples and specimens to ensure that all tracking data is organized and is monitored during the progress of the study Identify test results and trends requiring further analysis Maintain all study and regulatory records Oversee, screen, and evaluate recruitment of candidates for clinical research studies via telephone and or/in person Use objective rating techniques to identify potential candidates for participation in study where project design is complex Assist supervisor with managing the routine day-to-day activities, and administration of the project Plan, develop, complete, and submit on time all required documentation/paperwork/forms for initial and continuing human subject's review Analyze processes and documentation to ensure compliance with all technical, regulatory requirements, and information safety regulations"]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
