Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to (Current & Permanent) Federal Employees and US Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. Note: 38 U.S.C. 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans preference to external applicants for appointments made from this announcement.

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The Psychology Program Manager serves as the supervisor for staff psychologists and several Mental Health social workers across multiple locations of the Behavioral Health clinics of the VA Health Care System (VAHCS). This position reports directly to the Chief of Mental Health Service. Responsibilities are complex in scope, involving management of mental health clinic programming and professional staff located in three cities. The Mental Health Clinics are customer-service oriented, meeting a variety of emotional, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social needs of patients. These services contribute significantly to the level of health care provided by this agency.

The Psychology Program Manager:

• Provides program management and oversight of assigned teams to ensure effective and efficient delivery of mental health services.
• Maintains administrative and supervisory responsibility of Team Leads.
• Fosters a cohesive interdisciplinary team environment.
• Assists facility leadership in overseeing compliance with the successful execution of
• Mental Health Performance Measures, SAIL, workload, VERA capture, Veteran patient satisfaction, and quality assurance.
• Uses sound judgement in the interpretation of trends and patterns; provides application of guidelines and the recommendations for the purposes of general outpatient mental health enhancements.
• Reviews Community Care consults.
• Facilitates staff meetings regarding administrative and staff development issues, as well as team-based clinical care.
• Furthers the goals of equal employment opportunity (EEO) by taking positive steps to assure the accomplishment of affirmative action objectives and by adhering to non- discriminatory employment practices in regard to race, color, religion, sex, and affirmative action for the area under incumbent's supervision in the following: merit promotion of employees and recruitment and hiring of applicants, fair treatment of all.
• Participates in Network and/or National Health Care System Committees.
• Diagnoses mental disorders, conduct psychological assessments and/or neuropsychological screenings, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders

Duties are continued in the Education Section.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized and may be offered to a highly qualified candidate.

Recruitment Incentives. Recruitment incentives may be authorized to full-time, part time[,] or intermittent individuals in their first appointment as a Federal employee or to a newly appointed former Federal employee with at least a 90-day break in service

Relocation Incentives. Relocation incentives may be authorized to full-time Federal employees who must change worksite[s] and physically relocate to a different geographic area when the approving official determines that without the incentive, it would be difficult to fill the position with a high-quality candidate.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not 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 telework may be authorized.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:53804F
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 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).
• 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

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education:
• (1)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. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. 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
• (2)Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a respecialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the respecialization 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
• (3) 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) 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.
• NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.
• 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.
• 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in supervising programs that oversee services for people with behavioral and serious persistent mental health needs.
• Supervisory and program management experience is preferred.
• Experience in a residential treatment program for individuals with behavioral and serious persistent mental health needs.
• Experience in clinical supervision of leadership staff, program development, and administrative oversight.
• Experience in developing and implementing orientation and training programs for all program employees.
• Experience in administration and supervision of the program to ensure daily census compliance.
• Experience in coordinating referral to external treatment programs and ensuing daily appropriate discharge planning and aftercare services.

Grade Determinations:

GS-14 Psychology Program Manager

Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.

NOTE: To be equivalent to the GS-13 level, experience must be gained while having a full, unrestricted license to practice psychology in a U.S. State or territory.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(A) Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines.
(B) Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
(C) Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds, interests, and points of view.
(D) Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
(E) Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
(F) Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
(G) Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

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

Physical Requirements:
Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination

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 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.