The psychologist serves as a Senior Program Manager for the Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) program at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS). In this capacity, the psychologist functions as the Director, PCMHI for the Mental Health Service Line. The VAPSHCS is a very large and complex 1A facility within the VHA, providing care to nearly 100,000 Veterans each year across two large medical centers and seven community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC's).

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Senior Program Management: Provide broad program management responsibilities of a clinical care team, including leadership in the development, implementation, evaluation, and oversight of a complex program responsible for comprehensive clinical care of Veterans. Lead a number of multidisciplinary teams, which include psychologists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, nurses, and other health care professionals and trainees. Responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, with the approval of the affiliated Program Director and/or Service Line Leader. Conduct ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects that monitor the effectiveness of clinical operations within their respective program(s). Allocate resources within the Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) program at VAPSHCS, based on data-driven decision-making process with consideration given to the overall needs of the organization and Service Line (e.g., productivity, bed occupancy, clinic utilization, staffing needs, barriers to access, etc.). Organize and lead team meetings in order to facilitate case disposition, care management, effective delivery of clinical interventions, and the adherence to administrative demands.?????? Monitor and distribute provider-specific workload reports to program managers and ensures provider adherence to workload standards. Plan work to be accomplished by program managers, including establishing priorities, timelines for completion, and necessary adjustments therein. Ensure timely access to care of patients assigned each team, in accordance with local and national policies. Initiate and maintain liaisons with associated VA health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services. Monitor compliance of program managers with VA performance measures and effectively shapes provider practice patterns to improve standing on performance measures. Provide clinical supervision, as appropriate, 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. Provide leadership in hiring of new staff members for each program, which may include constructing job announcement(s), preparing functional statements, and/or selecting final job candidates. Clinical Responsibilities: Independently provide psychological assessment and diagnostic services for Veterans with a broad range of psychopathology receiving care within the clinic setting. Demonstrate expertise in using and teaching others about contemporary interview and psychometric assessment methods for these disorders. Provide education to both patients and family members regarding relevant mental health concerns. Provide comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy and psychoeducation. Provide consultation to health care providers about assessment findings and treatment plan for patients to ensure that care is coordinated, collaborative, and integrated within the Medical Center. Supervisory Responsibilities: Has direct or indirect (through subordinate supervision) administrative and professional supervision of subordinates. Function as the first line supervising authority (i.e., rater) for (6) Program Managers and (5) front-line staff members. For these individuals, the incumbent provides administrative, as well as clinical, supervision and/or consultation as appropriate. Provide administrative oversight and clinical consultation to over 50 other interdisciplinary team members for whom the incumbent is not the designated first line rating authority. Provide clinical supervision to psychology interns and other trainees as appropriate. Assume responsibility for taking appropriate disciplinary actions for employees with performance problems in a timely and effective manner. Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: May be available at the discretion of the supervisor Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Telework: Available, Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. 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.

FORMER VA HANDBOOK REFERENCE: PART II APPENDIX G18
EFFECTIVE DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 2018

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

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: 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: Randi Tran
• Phone: 509-434-7000 X6680
• Email: [email protected]