The Health System Specialist (HSS) with the San Juan VA Medical Center's Office of Research and Development manages regulatory committees and provides subject matter expertise regarding the underlying regulations in ensuring compliance in research. The position provides high level analytical and procedural support of projects in a comprehensive research setting, providing day-today support for the VA Research Program.

Duties

This is a bargaining unit position. Major Duties: Oversees and manages these programs and their activities, including preparation of committee and reviewer materials with appropriate documentation, ensuring projects are reviewed by appropriate personnel, and ensuring all outstanding issues related to project management are resolved in a timely manner. Develops reporting procedures, sampling techniques, and measurements at various points in the research committee process and research programs to identify problem areas or inherent weaknesses in work processes, procedures, information systems and content. Develops and maintains a pre-review program that will coincide with various research committees involving human subjects, animal subjects, basic laboratory science and the human research protection program. Serves in an advisory capacity to the R&D Leadership, research investigators, research committee members, and research committee chairs and others on issues relative to carrying out the institution's research activities involving the use of humans and safety procedures for investigative purposes. Monitors quality assurance program implementation and indicators designed to prevent erroneous transactions and ineffective work practices and to verify adherence to quality assurance plans and requirements. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD99586S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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, 12/24/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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 basing your qualifications on education. Individual Occupational Requirements: Undergraduate and Graduate Education - Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. AND Group Qualification Standards for Administrative and Management Positions: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Managing regulatory clinical research committees and programs such as but not limited to: Institutional Review Board (IRB), Subcommittee on Research Safety and Security (SRSS), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), Human Research Protection Program (HRPP); providing technical/consultative guidance and training to staff and stakeholders in regards to assisting with development and implementation of research program and committee processes and policies; analyzing and reporting data for presentations; developing action plans to resolve problems or improve efficiency; OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration; OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Project Management Quality Management Compliance 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 San Juan ORD VISN 8 50 Carr 165 Guaynabo, PR 00968-8024 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]