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Research Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The position is to to provide a basic level of technical knowledge and performs a variety of tasks related to the conduct of the research including participant recruitment and enrollment, protocol execution, data reporting and assisting with regulatory compliance. She/he directly involved in clinical services research and can assist with the implementation a wide range of research procedures as dictated by research protocols.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
09/22/2023 to 10/06/2023
Salary
$48,567 - $63,137 per year

A Cost-of-Living-Allowance (COLA) of 9.28% will be added to the stated salary. COLA is subject to change at any time.

Pay scale & grade
GS 7
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Honolulu, HI
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - Term Appointment in the Excepted Service Not-to-Exceed (NTE) 13-months and can be extended increments NTE 6-years.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBSW-12139639-23-CT
Control number
750745700

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Duties

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Duties to include but not limited to the following:

  • Exercises a thorough knowledge of the policies, regulations, procedures and processes governing the Research and Development Service; and a good working knowledge of the various functional staff and support office functions and services provided in coordinating, initiating, and responding to actions required.
  • Serves as local site point of contact for all activities related to enrollment, including special events and participant visits.
  • Develops plans for expanding recruitment efforts within Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines and research study protocol, including working with local site communication office in Veteran outreach programs.
  • Develops and participates in public relations activities
  • Explains study protocol to potential study participants and obtains informed consent, ensures that all aspects of the consent process are met, perform required vital signs, collects data, collects blood/specimens while following study protocol and prepares blood/specimens for shipment to the designated lab via tracked courier service while ensuring that the specimens are properly labeled.
  • Manages the daily operations of studies as assigned, including performing general office administration (word processing, photocopying, faxing, and mailing).
  • Independently completes all record keeping, data entry, adheres to protocol and operational manual, accesses computerized data bases and record systems, oversees compliance with federal and institutional Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) regulatory requirements, submits
  • local adverse event reports, annual progress reports, modifications and deviations to the Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB) and local Institutional Review Board (IRB) as required.
Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Research Assistant/PD02325O
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • 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
  • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/06/2023.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements/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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: basic level of technical knowledge and performs a variety of tasks related to the conduct of the research including participant recruitment and enrollment, protocol execution, data reporting and assisting with regulatory compliance, assists in the collection and analyzing of data, educating, and interacting with study participants and leadership, and providing the supervisor with detailed and summary information and making recommendations for further actions based on the data analysis, oversees enrollment of study participants and obtain informed consent and HIPAA authorization.

  • OR
  • Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement (S.A.A). (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.
  • 1. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision.
  • 2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of:
    • 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or
    • 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2years of the curriculum.
  • 3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.
  • 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 above information.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Clerical
  • Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
  • Manages and Organizes Information


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 primarily sedentary with occasional walking, standing, and handling and carrying items such as paper and books. There may be an occasional need to assist study participants with mobility to study location(s).

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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application to verify that you meet the Basic Requirement mentioned in the Qualifications section of this announcement.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

Veterans Health Administration

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System provides access to patient care to over 130,000 veterans across a 2.6M square mile area of the Pacific Ocean. Remote Island locations, separated by great distances of ocean, is the environment in which the VAPIHCS delivers a full range of comprehensive health care services. The VAPIHCS operates seven community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) covering seven county areas. These outpatient clinics are in America Samoa, Guam, Hilo, Kauai, Kona, Leeward, and Maui. VAPIHCS is a Level 2 facility within the VA Sierra Pacific Network (VISN 21).

More History can be found here: https://www.hawaii.va.gov/about/history.asp

Agency contact information

Cathleen Tittnich
Phone
9098257084 X1973
Email
Cathleen.Tittnich@va.gov
Address
Spark M Matsunaga Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
459 Patterson Road
Honolulu, HI 96819
US

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