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Health Science Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
White River Junction VA Healthcare System

Summary

This Health Science Specialist position is in the Executive Division of the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD) services at the White River Junction VA Healthcare System, located at the White River Junction, VT location.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$101,375 - $131,790 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
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
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
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
CBTD-13108896-27-BAS
Control number
892120400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL), Individuals with disabilities; Federal employees serving in the Competitive Service on Career or Career-Conditional appointment or in the Excepted Service with an Interchange Agreement; Permanent Title 38 employees employed on a full time basis; Former federal employees eligible for reinstatement; 30% Disabled Veterans, Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), or based on completion of service in the Peace Corps.

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Duties

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The incumbent serves as a Health Science Specialist in the Executive Division of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD), independently planning, developing, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating educational products and programs supporting the Center's national educational mission.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

  • Independently plans, develops, coordinates, implements, and evaluates educational products and programs that fulfill the educational mission of the National Center for PTSD.
  • Leads multiple concurrent projects involving subject matter experts, education staff, researchers, clinicians, contractors, and other stakeholders.
  • Determines appropriate approaches, formats, methods, timelines, and resources for assigned education projects based on project objectives, audience needs, scientific evidence, and applicable professional and agency requirements.
  • Identifies potential solutions to address issues involving content, scientific accuracy, educational approach, accessibility, technology, project timelines, and coordination among contributors.
  • Works with subject matter experts to translate complex clinical and research findings into educational products, including training courses, continuing education programs, videos, webpages, fact sheets, public education materials, programs, mobile applications, and other digital and print products.
  • Evaluates products for scientific accuracy, consistency with current evidence and professional standards, appropriateness for the intended audience, accessibility, and overall quality.
  • Provides guidance and technical assistance to education staff across NCPTSD regarding project management, educational product development, scientific content, and Section 508 accessibility requirements.
  • Advises project teams on appropriate approaches for developing and improving educational products and resolves issues that require interpretation of professional standards, Center policies, scientific information, or accessibility requirements.
  • Manages and monitors administrative and programmatic processes associated with Center educational products and programs.
  • Develops and maintains systems for tracking the status, availability, accessibility, quality, and required updates of educational products, including continuing education courses, mobile applications, education programs, webpages, and other digital and print materials.
  • Identifies gaps, inconsistencies, and emerging needs in the Center's educational product portfolio and recommends improvements to processes for developing, maintaining, organizing, and disseminating educational materials.
  • Coordinates with education staff and other stakeholders to ensure that products remain accurate, current, accessible, and readily available to intended audiences.
  • Develops, writes, reviews, and revises evidence-based educational and informational content for diverse audiences, including Veterans and their family members, clinicians, researchers, educators, and other professionals.
  • Applies professional knowledge of PTSD, behavioral health, health sciences, and current scientific evidence to determine the appropriate content, level of detail, terminology, and presentation for each target audience.
  • Performs other duties as assigned that are consistent with the position's professional responsibilities.
Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: ADHOC, This position is authorized for telework but has not been authorized as virtual or remote (i.e., the must be able to work at the location the position is being announced for).
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Science Specialist/PD405-042580
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Notifications:
  • This position is in the Competitive Service.
  • This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
  • This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
  • Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
  • Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
  • Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

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, 11/12/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): All applicants must meet the following Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) to be qualified for this position.

  • Education: 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(external link) at the time the degree was obtained.
In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement you must meet specialized experience below:
  • Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) or more years of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: knowledge of wide range of concepts, principles and practices in health sciences research program including neurobiology, epidemiology, as well as the diagnosis treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Collects, conducts, and collates information for publication, and grants; provides technical assistance in consulting, evaluating programs, or research activity to include providing education; serve as managing editor for research reports; coordinate, design and plan complex projects; facilitate strategic action plans for the research center/program.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • 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 and may be performed while sitting comfortably at a workstation. There is
periodic walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as instructional materials, books,
manuals, or records. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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?

The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define "who we are," our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries. The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE").

As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. With many openings in the multiple functions of VA, you will have a wide range of opportunities and leadership positions at your fingertips. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the Nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries. VA professionals feel good about their careers and their ability to balance work and home life. VA offers generous paid time off and a variety of predictable and flexible scheduling opportunities. For more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs, go to http://www.vacareers.va.gov/

Agency contact information

Brandy Smith
Email
brandy.smith7@va.gov
Address
VA White River Junction Healthcare System
215 North Main St.
White River Jct., VT 5009
US

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https://vacareers.va.gov/

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