This Program Support Assistant position is in Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center (MIRECC) services at the Bedford Healthcare Systems, located at the Bedford, MA location. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The incumbent will be responsible for administrative tasks for current and future research studies. The position will work within the admin team, as well as with study teams and independently. Duties include but are not limited to: Performs work related to the acquisition and/or development of program information and resource materials/personnel to support the policy development and/or technical activities of the study and center; Tracks various databases for accuracy and resolve discrepancies; Monitors budgets for research projects and grants. Involved in the tracking of funding and in the preparation and editing of proposals for VA based grants; Maintains system of program-specific data to track items such as project budget and spending; Develops and implements procedures to enable document flow and accurate filing of time sensitive records; Provides administrative and clerical support work to support the activities of the study and center, including email updates, preparation for meetings, and performing data entry into databases; Monitors and provides monthly review of research credentialing portal to confirm study employees can continue to conduct research; Completes the necessary paperwork for study/center requirements and evaluation of research clinical/epidemiology and genomic studies, and will maintain accurate records; Assists in the overall management of the physical, human, and financial resources of the research program; Provides excellent customer service to internal and external customers; Reviews of internal and external policies/processes and develop and implement change when required; Provides travel support for leadership, Invitational Travelers and Center Directors for government travel; Reviews travel/training requests and approves/disapproves based on study/center budget in regard to available funding; Processes and monitors expenditures and reimbursements for VA based travel; and Assumes other related duties. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD03773 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Notifications: This position is a Non-Bargaining Unit position. This position is in the Competitive Service. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. Current and former federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. This is a temporary, not to exceed October of 2026 position which may be extended or converted to a permanent position without further competitive procedures.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/18/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS-06 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the . 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. You 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Background and experience recruiting Veterans with opioid use disorder and related conditions. Experience with procedures and protocols for mitigating risks and ensuring safety and study participants with opioid use disorder and relate conditions. Familiarity with Rehabilitation Research and development funded grants and policies IRBnet VHA Bedford internal review board processes and VISN01 MIRECC Bedford internal Review Board processes operating procedure for Research Study staff. Familiarity with the scope VISN 01 MIRECC teams research portfolio and processes. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two years above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: AccountabilityCommunicationComputer SkillsCustomer ServiceProblem Solving 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: Typically, the incumbent sits comfortably to do the work. However, the incumbent occasionally may perform a variety of work related physical duties, including but not limited to, traveling between various offices (i.e. VA Bedford and CBOC locations in Gloucester or Lynn) carrying light/moderately heavy items (i.e. 5-20 pound items, standing in an upright position for varying lengths of time, and manual use of computer equipment for data processing. 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address VA Bedford Healthcare System 200 Springs Road Bedford, MA 01730 US
• Name: Jessenia Plaza
• Phone: (781) 473-6094
• Email: [email protected]