Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens.

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The Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development (ACOS/R&D) is a position established within the Research and Development Service under the Office of the Chief of Staff (COS). In collaboration with, and under the guidance of the COS, the ACOS/R&D formulates the goals and objectives of the research program for the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SGVHS).

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Initiating policies, procedures, and organizational structures necessary to achieve the stipulated goals.
• Planning, developing, and directing the complex scientific and administrative activities necessary to advance the program.
• Has leadership responsibility for all administrative and budgetary operations of the Research Service and for the supervision and evaluation of Service personnel through subordinate supervisors.
• Responsible for compliance with both VISN- and VA Central Office (VACO)-mandated research policies, including those issued by the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Office of Research Oversight (ORO).
• Supervising activities to ensure ongoing accreditation for the human research program.
• Responsible for facilitation and oversight of collaborations with the University affiliate (University of Florida).
• Primary point of contact for the local Research community.
• Serves on numerous facility-wide committees and is responsible for communicating research issues throughout the facility.
• Develops, reviews, and/or approves policies and procedures for administration of the organization's research program.
• Continuously monitors new and revised legislation, VHA Directives and mandates from other agencies (Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Joint Commission (JC), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), etc.) to identify changes.
• Monitors the effectiveness of the interactive research program to develop procedures necessary to advance the research program in accordance with all principles, rules, and regulations affecting research within the VA and other Federal Agencies.
• Analyzes, evaluates, and provides expert advice and consultation to other health scientists and physicians involved in research.
• Evaluates research proposals prior to submission through the R&D Committee and Sub-committees, whether they are to be funded by VA or a non-VA source.
• Performs quality assurance evaluations and reviews regular reports generated by the Research Compliance Office (RCO) to the R&D Committee to assess investigators' compliance with standard operating procedures.
• Conducts scientific studies, surveys, and investigations and capable and qualified to lead research projects as an independent investigator.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.
Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of annual paid time offer per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME)
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement
Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday (8:30am - 4:30pm)
Recruitment and/or Relocation Incentive with a service agreement may be authorized for a Highly Qualified Candidate
Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP): Eligible- *See "Additional Information" section below for more details.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• 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.

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.

Individual Occupational Requirement
Basic Requirements
Education: 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 (external link) at the time the degree was obtained. (Transcripts required)

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 would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Planning and reviewing research proposals;
• Exercising responsibility for administrative and fiscal operations;
• Conducting program assessments and preparing reports;
• Supervising Research staff and reviewing major equipment requests;
• Identifying problems and negotiating corrective action concerning programmatic issues, basic administrative processes and financial management concerns;
• Monitoring the effectiveness of Research programs to develop procedures necessary to advance the program in accordance with all principles, rules and regulations affecting research within the VA and other Federal Agencies.
• The Research Service assists with a variety of tasks for numerous principal investigators with research projects funded by the VA, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), and other federal agencies, non-profit foundations, various corporations, private companies, and organizations.
• The ACOS is available to research investigators for mentoring and assists them with proposal development and budget preparation to meet the Research & Development (R&D) Committee and sub-committee requirements.
• Serve on numerous facility-wide committees and is responsible for communicating research issues throughout the facility.
• The incumbent should have a history of research funding and have demonstrated the ability to lead research programs.

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You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

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: The work is a combination of sitting, walking, standing, reaching, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts, glassware, reagents; driving automobiles; etc. The work involves some air and local travel. Travel to other parts of the country is sometimes required. The work may also involve measurements involving radioisotopes and toxic substances.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.