The Director of Pain, Opioid Use Research Portfolio position is in the Office of Research and Development . The Pain and Opioid Use program has expanded as a major initiative with an annual investment of over $50M. It has strong support from the Pain Management Opioid Safety, and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMOP) Specialty Care Program Office, Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, and Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and is expected to grow in importance.

Duties

The Health Science Officer (HSO) for Pain and Opioid Use (POU) functions within ORD and is responsible to the Deputy CRADO Investigators, Scientific Review, and Management (ISRM). The incumbent's areas of responsibility include Strategic Plan, Roadmap, Portfolio Management, Portfolio oversight and metrics including developing, analysis, and implementing programs, control, and completion of projects ensuring consistency with strategy, and program evaluation within set objectives and plans. The HSO for POU will be responsible for communicating with Program Office and National leaders recommending policies and procedures related to clinical care using scientific findings to establish evidence for clinical application. The incumbent must be able to establish and maintain strategic collaborations with other ORD AMPs, Broad Portfolios, other Federal Agencies, and clinical partners to meet the mission of POU, minimize overlap with other AMPs and Broad Portfolios, and promote Veteran participation in clinical trials. A major responsibility will be to expand and implement results from clinical trials nationally to ensure availability of treatments to all Veterans who need care for pain and opioid use disorders. The HSO will also ensure rapid scientific peer review of special emphasis topic areas. Serves as a subject matter expert and senior level Program Director in all aspects of VA's Pain and Opioid Use research program. The incumbent must demonstrate knowledge of a broad range of skills including the guidance and management of POU research from preclinical/translational, clinical trials to implementation science. In addition, the incumbent must have an established working relationship with VHA clinical partners in the areas of pain management, specialty care, and opioid use. Incumbent is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the program including committing resources, developing and overseeing budgets, gaining compliance with policies and procedures, and resolving complex issues, and extensively interacting across VA/VHA program offices. Generates reports by analyzing primary data collected from research results including clinical trials supported by ORD. Interprets data generated from research studies as required in this position requires both subject matter and statistical expertise. Briefs senior leadership and other Agency collaborators on actionable results from studies. Works with senior investigators and statisticians to analyze study data for presentations, reports, and publications in scientific and medical journals. Continuously monitors the national enterprise to ensure execution of clinical trials across multiple sites. Generates reports to congress and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Provides data and pertinent updates to support Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks (DEAN) activities. Oversees analysis of secondary data sources, such as large administrative databases or disparate data sources that may contribute to the goals of POU program and activities across VA. Represents the POU AMP on ISRM Leadership Council. Represents ORD on interagency pain management and opioid use initiatives Provides strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Incumbent primarily designs, oversees, monitors, and evaluates the POU program. This includes overall clinical trial portfolio management and dissemination of scientific findings to the entire community. Incumbent also advises and provides technical guidance to ORD staff. Performs other position-related duties as required. Work Schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-4:30 PM (Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Available) Telework: Available (applicant is required on site 50% of work schedule per pay period). Virtual: The employee may work at a VA facility or other VA-leased space other than the facility that is hiring the employee and is authorized for telework up to 50%. Position Description/PD#: Health Science Officer/PD219760 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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, 08/05/2024. 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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized experience incudes: 1. Serves as a subject matter expert and senior level Program Director in all aspects of VA's Pain and Opioid Use (POU) research program, and demonstrate knowledge of Pain and Opioid Use research from preclinical/translational, to clinical trials to implementation science. 2. Provides strategic planning; designs, oversees, monitors, and evaluates the program. 3. Represents the Pain and Opioid Use portfolio on the internal Leadership Council. 4. Interprets data and generates reports for Congress and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy by analyzing primary data collected from research including clinical trials supported by Office of Research and Development. 5. Establishes and maintains strategic collaborations with other other Federal agencies, and clinical partners. **To be considered Best Qualified, the following experience must be verifiable in your resume/application.** Quality Ranking Factor: Managed research program, and/or conducted scientific review, an/or performed research in the pain and/or opioid use disorder field. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical ReasoningCommunicationsGrants ManagementResearch 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: This includes physical characteristics and abilities e.g., specific agility and dexterity requirements and the physical exertion involved in the work (e.g., climbing, lifting, pushing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, or reaching). To some extent the frequency or intensity of physical exertion must also be considered, e.g., a job requiring prolonged standing involves more physical exertion than a job requiring intermittent standing. 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 the GS-15 grade level. However, for the Individual Occupational Requirements a transcript must be submitted with your application.

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 VSHO - Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks 2402 Wildwood Ave Suite 301 Sherwood, AR 72120 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]