The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden. The position is vital within the VAMC where research programs are conducted. Health Science Specialists provide the link between Veterans and highly innovative projects.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/19/2024. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. AND You may qualify based on your Education/Experience/Combination as described below. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Individual Occupational Requirements: Applicants must possess a successfully completed a bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree, with a major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the Health Science Specialist. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as; coordinating clinical research projects or programs and follow protocols, enrolling and interviewing patients and obtaining informed consent, monitoring progress of clinical research projects, providing staff and tools to effectively prioritize the needs of the research project, managing day-to-day activities of assigned research protocols and data analysis in accordance with protocol specifications, conducting research investigatory processes, study-related interviewing, compilation and analysis of data, making recommendations of findings, reviewing work of assigned staff in data collection, database development, data entry and data edit specification systems design, and development of associated procedures to monitor for data quality and accuracy. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of a Health Science Specialist position. NOTE: If you select this option, you must submit a copy of your transcript (unofficial or official) with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the baccalaureate level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Managing and Organizing Information Project Management Research Communications Specimen Collection Critical Thinking Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.

Contacts

• Address Detroit ORD VISN 10 Federal Building, 477 Michigan Ave Detroit, MI 48226 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]