Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies, and all US Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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**This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until May 1, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be March 17th 2026, with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.**

The incumbent serves as the professional leader of the Suicide Prevention Program within the Mental Health Service Line at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center (VAMC). This position requires broad based clinical, administrative and supervisory knowledge and skills. The incumbent is directly responsible for the planning, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the Suicide Prevention Program. The incumbent is under the administrative supervision the ACOS, Mental Health Service Line.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Directly responsible for the planning, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all the Suicide Prevention program operations.
• Has direct authority over and is responsible and fully accountable for all aspects of clinical services as well as monitoring, tracking, education, training and outreach services provided by the Suicide Prevention program.
• Develops and administers program policies relating to all services provided by the Suicide Prevention program. These policies include those related to coordination of care with other clinical, allied health and administrative services.
• Overall supervisor responsible for all of the professional staff assigned to the Suicide Prevention program at the Charleston VAMC, including those based in Community Based Outpatient Clinics.
• Responsible for determining and defining the objectives and the goals of the Suicide Prevention program and with assuring that these are consistent with VHA Handbook 1160.01, UNIFORM MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES and the SUICIDE PREVENTION COORDINATOR MANUAL located on the VHA OMH&SP Suicide Prevention Share point, as well as any applicable Directives or Operational Memoranda.
• Responsible for monitoring accomplishment of and progress towards all established goals and objectives of the Suicide Prevention program at the Charleston VAMC.
• Responsible for developing and preparing budget estimates for procurement of supplies, equipment, and personnel services in the Suicide Prevention program.
• Responsible for ensuring that the staff of the Charleston VAMC's Suicide Prevention Program effectively coordinate with one another to provide suicide prevention outreach, education, training, tracking, monitoring and clinical care.
• Responsible for ensuring the compliance of the Suicide Prevention program with local and system-wide program policy directives.
• The professional psychologist will be able to function with a minimum of clinical oversight and is expected to make autonomous decisions regarding clinical issues. The psychologist is responsible for providing all psychological services to patients presenting with a mental health diagnosis, as well as those with complex diagnostic pictures of multiple Axis I and Axis II diagnoses.
• The psychologist will provide clinical supervision to trainees and to other clinicians on the team, as necessary, if deemed appropriate.

Work Schedule: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
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)
Telework: Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 60738F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
• Education.
  • Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. OR,
  • Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re- specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re- specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
    • (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and
    • (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
      • NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards. OR,
  • Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. AND
• Internships
  • (a) Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR,
  • (b) New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR,
  • (c) VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96- 151 (pre- 1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR,
  • (d) Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR,
  • (e) Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally- accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.
• Licensure. Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations:
Psychology Program Manager, GS-14
Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.

• GS-13 Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff psychologists. At this level, psychologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of psychological services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. They may be assigned to any VHA program and setting, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, Compensation and Pension, Vet Centers, and the VHA National Center for Organization Development. Psychologists diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions. Psychologists consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities.
• GS-13 Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
  2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
  3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1.Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines.
2.Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
3. Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups.
4. Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
5.Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
6.Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
7.Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

Preferred Experience: Suicide prevention experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the GS-14.

How you will be evaluated

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

*Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. All other applicants.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

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.

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.