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Supervisory Health Science Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Office of Research Oversight

Summary

This position is located in the Research Information Security (RIS) Workgroup within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Research Oversight (ORO) and reports to the ORO Executive Director. The incumbent of this position is responsible for overall management, operations, and supervision of the RIS Workgroup.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted today · Apply by 07/13/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 13, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$147,945 - $197,200 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
Yes
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CBZY-12987995-26-KE
Control number
875021000

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Duties

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Major Duties Include:

  • Supervises and provides management and subject matter leadership to Research Information Security Workgroup professional staff to ensure ORO' s mission, roles, and functions are fulfilled with regard to the integrity of research compliance, oversight, and assurance in VA research programs.
  • Provides oversight of the conduct of complex site reviews and investigations at VA medical facilities to evaluate for programmatic compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies governing the review, conduct, and oversight of VA research.
  • Directs and manages the evaluation of highly technical and complex research study protocols for compliance with applicable Federal laws, regulations and policies governing information protection and privacy-related practices.
  • Oversees and performs complex analyses of the requirements in, and intent of, laws, regulations, policies, and guidance in order to ensure the validity of findings of noncompliance in frequently encountered situations where the requirements, or the applicability of the requirements, are vague or unclear.
  • On behalf of VA, collaborates and negotiates with other Federal departments and agency (ies) on multi-jurisdictional research noncompliance matters, including identifying lead agency to conduct investigations into such matters.
  • Develops and implements national (VHA-wide) policy and guidance to ensure VA research program compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies governing human subjects research, particularly with regard to research information security, conducted at VA medical facilities across the country.
  • Utilizes knowledge of statistical methods to analyze research, compliance data in order to develop data-driven research compliance policies, procedures, and strategies; and identify at risk research programs and enterprise-wide common and emerging research noncompliance and vulnerabilities.
  • Conducts strategic planning for the management and delivery of services for major health science research compliance programs and policies, including multidisciplinary programs.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This position may be authorized for Virtual Work. Virtual Work eligibility is for current VA employees that are already subject to the return to the in-person work mandate in their current position.
Definition of Virtual Work: Employee works outside of original hiring duty station at a VA-owned or leased space.
Return to Office (RTO): RTO mandates are in effect and selectees will be required to report to in-person work unless they are approved for an exception or an exemption. Any approval for an RTO exception, exemption, or extension will happen after a tentative job offer, but before a final job offer.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health Science Specialist/PD715950
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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
  • 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 identification 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 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 probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/13/2026.

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.

You may qualify based on your experience and education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Education: You must possess 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 at the time the degree was obtained.

In addition to Individual Occupational Requirement

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. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet 6/9 of the following examples of specialized experience: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

  • Developing and implementing research information security policies applicable to human subjects research across a research enterprise to ensure data use and sharing are compliant with applicable regulations and institutional policies
  • Comprehensively directing all aspects of a human research protection program, including research information security components
  • Leading site reviews or a program to comprehensively evaluate research programs for compliance with regulations and policies pertaining to information security protections for human subjects research
  • Developing employee performance standards and evaluating employee performance
  • Directing and managing the evaluation of highly technical and complex research study protocols
  • Implementing and overseeing a national research oversight program that monitors, evaluates, and investigates matters of research compliance involving research information security
  • Making programmatic and policy interpretations and recommendations
  • Developing and recommending new and improved programs and strategies for compliance oversight
  • Overseeing the process by which research facilities initiate written, systematic action plans to correct deficiencies and provide oversight to documents remediation

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Mastery level knowledge of biological and disease processes, health sciences or allied sciences.
  • Knowledge of the theories, principles, concepts, methodologies, and techniques of designing, conducting, and analyzing biomedical and/or clinical research.
  • Knowledge of statistical methods.
  • Knowledge of healthcare delivery and operations.
  • Knowledge of Federal laws, regulations and policy governing human subjects research and human subject protections, research privacy, research information security and general research administration.
  • Ability to plan, develop, and carry out vital programs in research compliance, oversight, and assurance related not only to specific problems, projects, programs, and functions, but also to systemic and programmatic functions at all levels of research compliance, oversight, and assurance throughout VHA.
  • Leadership
  • Oral Communication
  • Written Communication

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; however, there is periodic walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as a laptop computer. No special physical demands are required to perform the work; however, travel is a significant component of the position.

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 if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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?

Agency contact information

VHA National Recruitment Center
Phone
(844)456-5208
Email
VHANationalRecruitmentCenter@va.gov
Address
VHA Central Office - Chief of Staff Services
810 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20420
US

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http://www.va.gov/jobs

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