This position is located in the Program Evaluation and Resource Center (PERC) one of the evaluation centers funded by the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) within VHA. The incumbent supports the work of PERC in multiple ways by serving as a senior data scientist within PERC and providing support to the Director. The Health Science Specialist accepts and supports the guiding principles of PERC, Office of the Chief of Staff Section at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

Duties

The Health Science Specialist serves as a senior data scientist within PERC and provides support to the Director. The principal duties and responsibilities of this position are planning and conducting collaborative nationwide projects for OMHSP. Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Conceptualizing and conducting program evaluation projects and quality improvement (QI) projects involving big data in a health care setting using knowledge about multiple fields of research that bridge diverse disciplines. Understanding large, complex national health care programs or data sets and can integrate stakeholder viewpoints and perspectives into the analysis and interpretation of health care system data. Representing PERC on national work groups, providing technical support related to PERC products and/or the implementation of OMHSP initiatives, serving as a liaison to other program offices, and actively working with extremely large datasets. Being involved with all phases of the design, development, and implementation of program evaluation and QI projects across the VHA mental health system. Presenting and communicating insights or findings from data to other data scientists in their team, and potentially to a non-technical or clinical audience. Serving in a leadership role on projects focusing on assessing treatment quality in VA mental health and SUD treatment and suicide prevention programs. Providing technical and scientific supervision of the work of staff assigned to these projects and monitor progress toward project goals and deadlines. Engaging in significant interaction and active coordination about data management and data syndication with staff at other OMHSP evaluation centers, OMHSP senior staff, and CDW. Participating in national initiatives involving data syndication and data interoperability and collaborating with internal and external subject matter and data experts in data innovation and migration projects. Helping in VA's efforts to transition from VistA to the Cerner electronic health record (EHR), a project of national significance. Assisting the Director of PERC with the data management responsibilities associated with coordinating with these staff and facilitating their use of data in appropriate and efficient ways. Creating and maintaining systems and databases designed to ensure that projects comply with administrative policies, procedures, and the data security guidelines and policies of the VA Office of Information Technology (OIT) Oversight and Compliance. Serving as an expert advisor and consultant on matters involving data science and working with big health care data. Working with a wide range of personnel in VA, including senior PERC staff, senior staff in other program offices (e.g. Pharmacy Benefits Management), principal investigators and other research staff, and junior data analysts. Working on diverse projects that may include program evaluation, QI, implementation, and research. Advising diverse staff on how to plan the acquisition of data resources to meet project needs. Assisting staff as they interact with database administrator teams at the CDW and VINCI as they arrange Data Use Agreements, database permissions, Extract, Transform, Load (ETLs) account planning, applications for accounts (e.g., Locally Secured Views) and Functional Task Codes necessary to accomplish tasks. Performing other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 08:00 a.m. to 04:30 p.m. Telework: May be authorized Position Description/PD#: Health Science Specialist- Research/PD01688A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/30/2023. 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-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. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Applicants who meet the Individual Occupational Requirements described below are fully qualified for the specified entry grade and must also meet the specialized experience and/or education requirements. Basic Requirement: The following are basic requirements for appointment as a Health Science Specialist in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must meet. 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. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) In addition to meeting the above Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), applicants must also meet the experience and/or directly related education relevant to this position. Minimum Qualification: To qualify at the GS-13 grade, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level or higher. 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: Creating and maintaining databases using Structured Querying Language (SQL) Server Management Studio and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). Documenting existing processes and events that occur during query design and development to ensure operational continuity. Creating and managing systems and databases designed to ensure that projects comply with relevant policies and security guidelines; and understanding large and complex health care programs and datasets, including health care coding systems. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Data ManagementPlanning and EvaluatingTeamworkTechnical Competence 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 primarily sedentary and requires only occasional travel. 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 Palo Alto VA Medical Center 3801 Miranda Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304 US
• Name: Desiree Carter
• Phone: 504-314-5492
• Email: [email protected]