This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

The psychologist serves as a Senior Program Manager and functions as the Supervisory Senior Program Manager for the Center of Excellence in Substance Addiction Treatment and Education (CESATE). The Senior Psychologist Program Manager has administrative and clinical responsibility for all mental health staff, research activities, educational endeavors, and clinical activities in CESATE. The CESATE at VA Puget Sound is one of only two special purpose funded VA Centers of Excellence in substance addictions in the country. As such, the program is a critical resource to the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) and the National Mental Health Director for Substance Use Disorders. Responsibilities Provides broad program management responsibilities to a research, education, and clinical team. Leads a multidisciplinary team. Responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of operational policies and procedures for the treatment teams. Conducts ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects. Allocates resources within the Mental Health Service Line, based on data-driven decision-making process with consideration given to the overall needs of the organization. Organizes and leads team meetings in order to facilitate care management. Plans work to be accomplished by program managers. Initiates and maintains liaisons with associated VA health care programs. Monitors compliance of program managers. Provides clinical supervision to assigned program managers regarding adherence to VA Puget Sound Health Care System medico-legal stands and policies, documentation of computerized medical record procedures, and the clinical management of difficult, complex, and dangerous patients. Provides leadership in hiring of new staff members. Resolves conflicts among staff, and adjudicates complaints and problems of employees. Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings. Attends monthly Psychology Service Staff Meetings. Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data. Oversees and collaborates with program managers on program development initiatives. Ensures optimal collaboration across program teams. Oversees survey readiness for all programs. Responsible for timely completion of all program evaluations and documents. Oversees and collaborates with teams to ensure success on facility and MHS performance metrics. Comprehends, interprets, and uses the data array in both domains of workload at the individual provider and aggregate team levels and clinical outcomes. Serves as the point of contact for conflict resolutions and problem-solving. Interfaces with discipline-specific professional leaders. Leads MHS leadership meetings. Coordinates closely with the assigned administrative partner. Completes suspense actions. Clinical Independently provides psychological assessment and diagnostic services. Demonstrates expertise in using and teaching others about contemporary interview and psychometric assessment methods for these disorders. Provides education to both patients and family members. Provides comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions. Provides consultation to health care providers about assessment findings and treatment plan for patients. Develops, implements, and documents the mental health treatment plan. Complies with all Service Line documentation requirements. Adheres to all Facility and Service Line policies and practices for delivering clinical care. Achieves minimal clinical workload expectations as established. Supervisory Direct or indirect (through subordinate supervision) administrative and professional supervision of subordinates. Functions as the first line supervising authority for 2 employees. Assumes responsibility for taking appropriate disciplinary actions for employees with performance problems. Approves leave for employees assigned. Initiates performance awards for outstanding employees, and completes administrative paperwork. Education and Training Provides clinical supervision and instruction for psychology trainees, and/or training for medical residents, medical students, social work interns, or other trainees not enrolled in a psychology training program. Provides leadership guidance and consultation to unit staff. Research May hold an academic faculty appointment at the University of Washington or other affiliated university. Actively involved in research. Engages in other research support activities as appropriate. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8am - 4:30pm Telework: AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected] for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology). OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards. Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre 1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) OR Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program. Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Loss of Credential: A psychologist who fails to maintain the required licensure must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists. English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: Senior Psychologist Program Manager, GS-15 Experience: At least four years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Skill in managing and directing the work of large, complex organizational units and in applying effective management practices. Skill in persuasion, negotiation, and motivation to negotiate multiple program policies. Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees and other managers using advanced consultation and problem solving skills. Skill in the application and analysis of measurement tools to systems issues. Ability to balance responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy; ability to set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze complex organizational problems; and ability to develop and implement effective solutions for those problems. Ability to assess need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic contexts. Ability to coordinate the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system. Assignment: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Psychology Program Managers at the GS-15 level generally manage large, complex programs in Complexity Level 1 (High Complexity) facilities, or in facilities of lesser complexity levels that have large psychology or mental health services. Responsibilities may include supervision. Senior psychologist program managers have very broad responsibility for multiple programs or have responsibility for a large service organization that is of considerable scope, size, and complexity. QUALIFICATIONS CONTINUED IN EDUCATION SECTION

Education

QUALIFICATIONS CONTINED: Programs include but are not limited to addiction, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), mental health compensation and pension examination (C&P) programs, Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center, inpatient mental health, residential rehabilitation, domiciliary, palliative care, neuropsychology, and internship and postdoctoral fellowship training programs; managers of an off-campus site; psychology program oversight and coordination as a psychology executive; and program oversight and coordination for education programs (typically seen in roles such as ACOS for Education) or research programs (typically seen in roles such as ACOS for Research). Responsibilities include strategic planning to ensure the provision of quality services to meet the needs of the Veterans being served, development of short- and long-range goals and plans; development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure that plans are carried out and goals are met; management of administrative and programmatic resources; and monitoring outcomes using data-driven quality assurance processes. Decisions affect staff and other resources associated with the programs managed; decisions are made exercising very wide latitude and independent judgment. They have oversight of administrative and programmatic resources and deploy those resources in support of the program needs. The programs managed are substantial and deliver specialized, complex, highly professional services, significantly impacting the health care provided to Veterans. Senior Psychologist Program Managers have full responsibility for oversight of the professional practice of psychology in medical centers or health care systems and ensure the highest quality of psychological care provided to Veterans throughout the facility and its affiliated clinics.

References: VA Handbook 5005/103 Part II Appendix G18

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15.

Physical Requirements: This work requires sitting for long periods of time, working closely with others, and working alone.

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 Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Rebecca Hanson
• Phone: 509-434-7320
• Email: [email protected]