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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

MAJOR DUTIES:

• Performs a variety of clinical and technical tasks.
• Independently administers and scores neuropsychological assessment instruments, including complex standardized tests of intelligence, academic achievement, attention, memory, speech language functions, visuospatial/constructional skills, motor skills, and executive functions, as well as cognitive screening tools and extended batteries designed to assess neuropsychological abilities. The instruments used include specialized, complicated neuropsychological assessment techniques, beyond introductory assessment knowledge, requiring more extensive training and skill in administration and scoring.
• Conducts a comprehensive battery of standardized neuropsychological tests, during in-person/face-to-face appointments.
• Provides services to a subset of patients who exhibit complex diagnoses, such as patients with severe neurological disorders, including traumatic brain injuries, stroke, seizure disorders, aphasia, neurosyphilis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and severe mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance misuse disorders.
• Administers tests to patients of diverse backgrounds, with awareness of cultural and linguistic factors that may impact test validity. This may include further assessment of language preferences, administration of tests that aid the neuropsychologist in determining language proficiency, and/or administration of a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological and psychological tests in Spanish, if fluent.
• Administers and scores measures for purposes of assessment of emotional status, personality, and/or functional capability. Measures used for these purposes include complex measures such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functions, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory.
• May have limited responsibility for and oversight of the administrative and programmatic resources of various clinical programs that are specialized/complex and significantly impact the delivery of health care service to veterans in the Neuropsychology Program.
• Oversees all neuropsychology caseload organization and scheduling of referrals in a manner to provide timely assessment and expeditious handling of priority referrals.
• Schedules patients for testing.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
Telework: This position may be authorized for ad hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

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
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: A bachelor's (or higher) degree from an accredited college or university with a major in an appropriate social or biological science, which included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours in Psychology. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: In addition to meeting the above requirements, you must also meet one of the requirements listed below to qualify for this position:

EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) full year of technical work under the direction of a professional psychologist in a program of professional services, training or research of which at least six (6) months is comparable in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level (GS-6) in the Federal service, or one (1) year is comparable to the second lower grade level(GS-5). (This experience must be documented in your resume to be considered.) Examples of qualifying experience include: Performing one or more of a variety of technical tasks in a program of research or other professional services in psychology; Assisting in research as in systematic collection of psychology research data, recording and collecting of data, preparing tabular or graphic presentation of data, in accordance with a predetermined research plan; Assisting counseling psychologists in contacting potential employers for purpose of making vocational placement, providing follow-up consultation, administering and scoring of interest, achievement and aptitude tests, securing work history and other relevant vocational information; Assisting neuropsychologist in administering and scoring of selected tests of a neuropsychology battery in accordance with clearly defined procedures; Assisting psychologists in completing behavior rating scales or in conducting behavior modification.

~OR~

EDUCATION: One full year of graduate study (or 18 semester hours) in Psychology at an accredited college or university that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

~OR~

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate-level education as described above which meets the total experience requirements for this grade level (GS-7). (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

~OR~

SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (SAA): SAA at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for SAA, applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following:

1. Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university or major subdivision.
2. A grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
3. A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
4. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp.

For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f

PREFERRED COMPETENCY: Proficiency in basic written and spoken Spanish

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Communication
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Psychological Assessment
• Psychology

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.

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.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, conducted in an office setting. The stress involved in dealing frequently with persons who are emotionally or physically distressed, cognitively impaired, communication-impaired, or who may be uncooperative, poorly motivated, obstreperous, or possible assaultive, makes this position appreciable more demanding than most sedentary lines of employment. Dexterity, proficient handwriting speed, and specific physical agility, visual and auditory acuity are required, as are physical exertion (i.e., moderately heavy lifting of test supplies, records and equipment up to 40 pounds), walking, listening, and writing and sitting for prolonged periods.

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. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

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.