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Supervisory Health Science Specialist - Human Research

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary


This position is located in Research Service at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, within the Human Subjects Protection (Institutional Review Board) Program.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/09/2025 to 07/15/2025
Salary
$122,857 to - $159,716 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Los Angeles, CA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CARZ-12759513-25-EAE
Control number
840377600

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Duties

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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***

  • Serves as lead for Human Research Protection program, proving individual guidance to scientest, sharing regulations and providing trainings.
  • Provides direct and/or indirect supervision to employees performing a variety of duties supporting Human Research Protection and Institutional Review Board (IRB) related programs within Research and Development.
  • Identifies, prepares and oversees needed resources required to deliver Human Research Protections program for various research activities.
  • Directs intensive oversight, reporting, and measurement to improve operational effectiveness of IRB program.
  • Plans work to be accomplished, sets short and long term goals, assigns work based on IRB priorities, instructs employees on work and administrative matters.
  • Develops performance standards, writing position descriptions, evaluating work performance, counseling of employees, and initiating disciplinary actions when necessary.
  • Develops statements of goals, policies, priorities, and plans for the full range of research concerns for the organization.
  • Monitors compliance with program requirements by conducting program assessments, preparing reports, identifying problems, and identifying programmatic issues and basic financial management of the site.
  • Oversees implementation of programmatic and policy elements approved by the Research & Development Committee and its subcommittees.
  • Evaluates the effectiveness of policy implementation on the research programs and major agency health science programs.
  • Analyzes criteria/adjusts standards in response to program developments and ensures Human Subjects Protection policies adherence.
  • Identifies problems and negotiates corrective action concerning programmatic issues and basic financial management of the site.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

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
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • 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)

Qualifications

This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration.

The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: MUST possess experience performing research in a medical human research program. (This experience must be documented in your resume.)

AND

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Must possess a successful completion of a full four (4) year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study or specific course requirements related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of this 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED-Copies of Degrees/Diplomas or course listings are not adequate information)

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirement, you must also possess specialized experience as indicated below in order to qualify for this position.

Specialized Experience: Must possess one (1) year of specialized experience equipped with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the Supervisory Health Science Specialist position. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes experience providing supervision to employees performing a variety of duties supporting a human research program; performing duties such as developing performance standards, writing position descriptions, evaluating work performance, counseling of employees, and initiating disciplinary actions; developing and implementing policies and procedures for maintaining accreditation for the Human Subjects research programs; and providing leadership and oversight of all phases of service delivery for major health programs (This experience must be documented in your resume.)

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

  • Managing Human Resources
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Risk Management
  • Technical Competence


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 mainly sedentary however, inspections of facilities including laboratories, animal care units, clinical research areas, or other research associated sites will require walking or some driving to arrive at distal sites. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as records, files, instructional material, books, and manuals. 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


IMPORTANT: 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).

Additional information

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.

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.

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