Skip to main content
U.S. flag
 

Health System Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Office of Research and Development

Summary

This position is in the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Research and Development (R&D) Service. The position is fully responsible to manage regulatory committees and provide subject matter expertise regarding the underlying regulations in ensuring compliance in research. The position provides high level analytical and procedural support of projects in a comprehensive research setting, providing day-to-day support for the VA Research Program.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—Ad-Hoc telework authorized as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$67,722 - $97,087 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Promotion potential
11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
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
CARX-13094215-27-VEL
Control number
889193400

Videos

Duties

Help

Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Independently resolves complex or first-time technical questions from investigators, committee chairs, and external regulatory bodies on human subject protection, animal care, or biosafety policy.
  • Designs, refines, and oversees tracking systems and databases used to manage the research program's full project portfolio, making improvement recommendations to leadership.
  • Independently designs and implements quality assurance programs for the research committee structure, tailoring strategies to program culture and operational needs.
  • Designs monitoring activities and measurable improvement plans, independently evaluating outcomes and implementing corrective measures without supervisory review.
  • Designs and delivers training programs for committee chairs, members, and investigators on evolving federal and VA regulatory requirements, representing the facility in external regulatory/accreditation interactions.
  • Leads investigation and analysis of adverse quality trends or serious/continuing non-compliance, determining root cause and directing corrective action across committees.
  • Applies working knowledge of core regulatory frameworks (21 CFR Parts 11/50/56, 45 CFR Part 46, HIPAA Privacy Rule, applicable VHA Handbooks) to routine protocol review and committee support tasks.
  • Tracks protocol review status from submission through continuing review and amendments, using established databases and systems, flagging delays to the supervisor as needed.
  • Identifies routine compliance discrepancies in investigator submissions and communicates required corrections, escalating unresolved or disputed issues for guidance.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.


Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Ad-Hoc Telework authorized at the discretion of the supervisor.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description (PD) #: 99493-S, 99586-S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure: Not required

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

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.
  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • 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.
  • As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be serving in a position in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service. You will obtain competitive status after two years of service in this position, if applicable.
  • 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2026.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07.
  • For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09.
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.

All applicants MUST meet the following Individual Occupational Requirements:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education:
Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

OR,

Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:
  • Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
  • Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
  • Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

Special Provision for Inservice Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:
  • Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
  • Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
  • Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements, you MUST also meet the specialized experience requirements.

GS-09 Grade Level:
  • GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
  • Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
    • Applies working knowledge of core regulatory frameworks (21 CFR Parts 11/50/56, 45 CFR Part 46, HIPAA Privacy Rule, applicable VHA Handbooks) to routine protocol review and committee support tasks.
    • Under general supervision, analyzes research project submissions for compliance with Federal and VA regulations (FDA, OHRP, ORO, USDA, OLAW, AAALAC), referring novel or precedent-setting compliance questions to the supervisor.
    • Assists in maintaining required federal-wide assurances and program registrations (e.g., OHRP Federalwide Assurance, IBC/NIH OSP registration), verifying committee rosters and documentation are current.
GS-11 Grade Level:
  • GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
  • Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
    • Serves as the institutional subject-matter expert and point of contact for regulatory frameworks (21 CFR Parts 11/50/56, 45 CFR Part 46, HIPAA Privacy Rule, VHA Handbooks), advising R&D leadership directly.
    • Independently analyzes and evaluates research projects for compliance with Federal and VA regulations (FDA, OHRP, ORO, USDA, OLAW, AAALAC) across multiple concurrent committees, resolving ambiguous or novel compliance questions without referral.
    • Serves as the institutional owner of required federal-wide assurances and program registrations, ensuring continuous compliance and representing the facility during external accreditation and regulatory reviews.
    • Independently develops and manages the full review calendar across multiple regulatory committees (R&D, IRB, IACUC, IBC, SRS), setting deadlines and resolving scheduling conflicts without supervisory involvement.
    • Owns the end-to-end protocol review lifecycle across the research portfolio, proactively resolving bottlenecks and process breakdowns affecting multiple stakeholders.
    • Independently identifies and remediates compliance issues through intercession with investigators, negotiating resolutions on disputed committee recommendations.
    • Independently resolves complex or first-time technical questions from investigators, committee chairs, and external regulatory bodies on human subject protection, animal care, or biosafety policy.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


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, although some slight physical effort may be required.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement through 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

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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/.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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.

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
Ann Arbor ORD VISN 10
2215 Fuller Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Veterans Health Administration, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://vacareers.va.gov/

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.