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Lead Health Scientist

Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The incumbent serves as a recognized agency authority or consultant for health programs and conducts scientific research to develop systems to monitor public health performance at local, state and national levels.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, some CDC employees have been authorized to work virtually. However, when CDC is cleared to return back to work, you will be required to report to the location identified in the vacancy announcement for which you applied.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
02/02/2022 to 02/18/2022
Salary
$117,692 to - $152,998 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Atlanta, GA
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
HHS-CDC-D2-22-11348165
Control number
631681900

Duties

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As a Lead Health Scientist, you will:

  • Serve as a recognized expert in health sciences for the agency with responsibility for developing policy and objectives, appraising programs, and initiating requirements for health science studies.
  • Serve as advisor for the planning, design, implementation, and analysis of projects.
  • Lead scientists and program consultants in various aspects of the study or survey design process.
  • Provide technical advice to state and local health agencies and to various other health-related organizations about measuring and evaluating public health performance.
  • Serve as a Project Officer on grants, cooperative agreements and contracts.
  • Identify and analyze public health issues and their impact on scientific operations.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Background Investigation is required.
  • E-Verify: If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System. Federal law requires DHS to use the E-Verify System to verify employment eligibility of all new hires, and as a condition of continued employment obligates the new hire to take affirmative steps to resolve any discrepancies identified by the system.
  • Direct Deposit: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
  • All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
  • One-year probationary period may be required.
  • Travel, transportation, and moving expenses may be paid: No
  • Bargaining Unit Position: No
  • Drug Screening Required: No
  • Recruitment Incentive may be authorized: No
  • Annual Leave for non-federal service may be authorized: No
  • Research position: No.
  • Promotion potential: No.
  • Supervisory position: No.
  • Public Trust/Moderate Background Investigation (5) is required
  • In accordance with Executive Order 12564 of September 14, 1986, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is A Drug-Free Federal Workplace. The Federal government, as the largest employer in the Nation, can and should show the way towards achieving drug-free workplaces through programs designed to offer drug users a helping hand, and at the same time demonstrating to drug users and potential drug users that drugs will not be tolerated in the Federal workplace.
  • Political Appointee language/statement should be included in all vacancies, please make sure, to pull in updated template Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service. Current or Former Political Appointees: Submit SF-50

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

A Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (https://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/) at the time the degree was obtained.

Minimum Qualifications:

Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-13 in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph.

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include experience in designing, overseeing, implementing, and conducting scientific studies or projects to identify and solve health system related problems.



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; religious; 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.

Education

Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the education requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/jobs/future-applicant-information.html.

Additional information

This vacancy is also being announced concurrently with vacancy announcement HHS-CDC-MP2-22-11348167 under merit promotion procedures. Please review that announcement to see if you are eligible for consideration under merit promotion procedures. NOTE: Applicants must apply separately for each announcement in order to be considered. Current, active duty PHS Commissioned Corps Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps (not as a career/career-conditional employee) are encouraged to apply under the merit promotion announcement (if applicable).

Additional selections may be made within the same geographical location CDC-wide.

The utilization of shared certificates within multiple Centers of the Center of Disease Control and Prevention may be used from this vacancy announcement for specialties to include but not limited to: Applied Epidemiology, Behavioral Epidemiology, Chronic Diseases, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, Immunization, Infectious Diseases (e.g. Viral, Parasitic, etc.), Influenza, Malaria, Non-communicable Diseases, Outbreak Investigations, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), Surveillance, Tropical Medicine, Tuberculosis (TB), Viral Hepatitis, and/or Zoonotic Diseases..

Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov).

For information on "People with Disabilities" please see http://opm.gov/disability/PeopleWithDisabilities.asp
and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/getting-a-job/sampleschedaletters.pdf.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP eligible see http://opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ictap. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85.0 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

Former and present Peace Corps personnel may be considered to fill vacancies. Peace Corps personnel are eligible for consideration if you have completed at least 36 months of continuous service, without a break in service of 3 days or more. This requirement is consistent with section 7(a) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2506), which pertains to the appointment of Peace Corps staff (not volunteers) and is applicable within 3 years after separation from qualifying service with the Peace Corps. A copy of your SF-50 is required to support your request.

Peace Corps Volunteers may be considered to fill vacancies. Executive Order 11103 provides eligibility for appointment in the competitive service for any person who is certified by the Director of the Peace Corps as having served satisfactorily as a Volunteer or Volunteer Leader under the Peace Corps Act and who passes such examination as the Office of Personnel Management may prescribe.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, a review of the resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Category rating procedures will be used to rate and rank candidates.

The category assignment is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the competencies required for this position. Qualified candidates will be ranked into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified or Qualified. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher).

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics).

  • Accountability
  • Collaboration / Partnering
  • Conflict Management
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Data and Information Synthesis
  • Decision Making
  • Diversity
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Needs Assessment (2)
  • Oral Communication
  • Organizational Systems Awareness
  • Performance Management
  • Problem Solving
  • Project Management (2)
  • Public Health Knowledge
  • Research Translation
  • Team Building

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