This position is located within the VA Boston Healthcare System, Women's Health Sciences Division (WHSD) of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD). The WHSD is a growing and vibrant multi-disciplinary branch of the NCPTSD, a seven-site consortium mandated by Congress to study reactions to traumatic stress and develop educational programs. The WHSD, affiliated with Boston University School of Medicine and located at the Jamaica Plain Campus.

Duties

The WHSD, is a nationally-recognized program developing and conducting innovative research in stress, trauma, and women's health and is involved in dissemination of evidence-based treatment for PTSD, as well as promoting best practices in the treatment of veterans who experienced military sexual trauma. DUTIES AND RESPONSILITIES: As a Statistician /Data Analyst in the Women's Health Sciences Division of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD), the incumbent will work primarily in the development, conduct, and publication of independent and collaborative scholarly research on PTSD, trauma, and women's health; will provide consultation and leadership on technical, methodological, and statistical aspects of research in the WHSD; will manage and oversee the management of WHSD data sets; and will function as the scientific liaison with local and national research programs relevant to the mission of the Women's Health Science Division. Each of these duties is broken down as follows: A. Management of WHSD Data Sets (40% of time): The incumbent will supervise the acquisition of data; conduct statistical analyses of all research and clinical data and/or supervise and oversee the collection and coding of data. She/he will generate descriptive statistics and summary tables as well as perform high level modeling and statistical analyses of research data as appropriate for the particular study or project. The incumbent will create novel hypotheses and conduct independent research through securing external federal and nonfederal funding sources. B. Consultation and Leadership on Technical, Methodological and Statistical Aspects of Research (20% of time): The Health Science Specialist/Data Manager will provide expertise and assistance while consulting with staff psychologists/principal investigators who conduct research to establish and maintain databases for various research projects. Scoring algorithms and other programming may be involved in these databases. Once the employee assists in designing the databases and developing scoring programs, she/he will train relevant research technicians to input data and maintain the databases. The incumbent will conduct data analyses for staff members and will seek consultation as appropriate from biostatisticians regarding appropriate statistical analyses for various situations. C. Research Development (20% of time): The incumbent will serve as a PI and/or Co-PI on various independent research projects involving adaptation following exposure to potentially traumatic events including the nature, course, and treatment of PTSD and trauma-related issues relevant to women Veterans. The incumbent will develop research grant proposals for submission and funding. These research projects will involve developing, managing, analyzing, and publishing research on the mental health (such as PTSD, trauma, etc.) of women Veterans and related factors that can be studied and analyzed through a variety of psychological research methods. The research will be expected to lead to new insights involving the diagnosis, treatment, health maintenance, and improvement of care of female Veterans that suffer from a variety of psychological and medical conditions. The work will require the development of new insights and supporting methodologies/ technologies to extend the knowledge and applications in these fields such as by using new evaluation tools and equipment and the resultant analysis of the data. The research projects and studies that are conducted individually or through a team effort will resolve significant issues and open new areas of research. D. Scientific Liaison with Local and National Research Programs : The incumbent must demonstrate the ability to secure funding for her/his research projects. The projects will result in the publishing and presentation of the new research findings in scientific periodicals and at society conferences. Findings and results are highly regarded by the healthcare professionals and academia for furthering the knowledge of care for the female veteran population. Thus, the researcher must have several authored/coauthored publications in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. The researcher will independently administer, score and disseminate all new research and clinical tools developed through his/her research within the Women's Health Science Division of the National Center for PTSD. This will also result in the incumbent making local and national presentations to professional, VA, and public groups regarding the research and educational work of the Women's Health Sciences Division. II. Work Schedule: Wednesdays, and Thursdays 1:00pm-5:00pm Telework: Available/Ad-Hoc Virtual: Remote Available Functional Statement #:523-2282 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. 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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Advanced knowledge of data management procedures and associated software programs sufficient to enable technical planning and internal coordination of scientific databases within and across research studies. Expertise with a variety of research methodologies including qualitative and quantitative procedures used to develop psychometrically sound interviews and questionnaires and laboratory procedures such as psycho physiological assessment. Demonstrated expertise with a variety of multivariate statistical procedures including multilevel regression analyses and latent variable models as demonstrated by the use of these techniques in co-authored, peer-reviewed publications. In addition, the incumbent must be proficient with the use of a variety of data analytic software programs including SPSS and/or SAS, HLM, and MPlus, etc. Demonstrated ability to disseminate scientific research findings via articles published in peer reviewed scientific journals and reports submitted to federal funding agencies. Ability to establish goals and priorities that integrate organizational objectives and to evaluate program progress and results. Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing in order to communicate with personnel involved in the research project(s) and administration. Knowledge of safety policies and procedures to maintain a safe environment and respond effectively in emergencies. Knowledge of the various privacy acts and regulations to prevent the unauthorized release or access to privileged information through any medium. Knowledge of the VA's computer systems and related programs to input or extract data involving participants in the research studies. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Languages Computer Skills Data Management Technical Competence Written Communication 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 sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as instructional material, books, and manuals. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/.

Contacts

• Address VA Boston Healthcare System 940 Belmont Street Brockton, MA 02301 US
• Name: Tracy Liverpool
• Phone: (734) 545-3004
• Email: [email protected]