Clarification from the agency

The IHS is required by law to give absolute preference to qualified applicants who meet the Secretary of the Interior's definition of Indian for appointment to vacancies within the IHS in accordance with established IHS policy as outlined in the Indian Health Manual Part 7, Chapter 3.

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• Provide comprehensive and skilled psychological evaluations and treatment services to individuals, couples, groups of individuals, and families receiving services for problems of personality, emotional adjustments, or mental illness of a primary nature or secondary to organic illness.
• Administer, score, interpret psychological tests; and conduct psychological tests for differentiating between organic and functional causes of emotional disturbances and/or behaviors.
• Provide assessment, diagnosis and psychotherapy utilizing a broad range of therapeutic techniques as indicated by the specific needs of the individual, group or family.
• Responsible for completeness, timeliness, diagnostic and therapeutic pertinence and maintenance of clinical psychology professional standard of care for services and reports.
• Provide thorough and concise written documentation of evaluations, treatment and case management services, psychological test summaries, treatment plans, referrals, and correspondence.
• Provide consultative services to relevant providers and team members such as primary care, ER, dental, allied professionals, amongst others to include advice on diagnosis, assessment, treatment, and referrals for patients presenting with behavioral health concerns

Conditions of employment

Selectee may be subject to a probationary period
ESEP appointees typically serve a two year trial period
U.S. Citizenship is required
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

This is a designated position covered by Public Law 101-630, requiring contact or control over Indian children. Due to this requirement, the agency must ensure that persons hired for these positions have not been found guilty of or pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to certain crimes.

The selected individual is required to obtain and maintain medical staff clinical privileges, including any licensure requirements. If privileges are not obtained or maintained during employment, the employee will be subject to adverse actions, up to and including removal from Federal service.

IHS Selectees whose duties and responsibilities require them to work permanently, temporarily, or occasionally in an IHS healthcare facility must comply with the IHS Employee Immunization Policy related to vaccine-preventable diseases, consistent with recommendations for healthcare workers. Vaccine exemption requests may be available, as outlined in the IHS Employee Immunization Policy and facility guidance.

On-call hours or standby duty may be required.
Position may be subject to rotating shifts: days, evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.

You will need to set up direct deposit so we can pay you.

Background Investigation: If you are selected for this vacancy, you must undergo a pre-employment fingerprint check and background investigation. Fingerprint results and background investigation documentation must be cleared prior to hire. After you begin your employment, your continued employment is contingent upon the outcome of a complete background investigation as determined by the sensitivity level of your position. The investigation must find that you are suitable for Federal employment in your position. If you are found not suitable, you will be terminated after you begin work. If you make a false statement in any part of your application, you may not be hired; you may be fired after you begin work; or subject to possible criminal charges. You may be subject to a credit check as a part of the background investigation process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

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; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.


BASIC REQUIREMENT(S):
Degree: major or equivalent in psychology for all specializations except clinical psychology and counseling psychology. These two specializations have additional educational requirements, as stated below:

• Clinical psychology: For positions at grades GS-11 and above, satisfactory completion of all the requirements for the doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical psychology is required.

In addition to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks:

• working as a psychologist in a mental health setting clinic or hospital while providing psychological evaluations, delivering therapeutic mental health treatment modalities for patients, providing consultation, collaboration and follow up;
• assisting and referring patients with acute, chronic or severe mental illnesses and dual diagnosis patient populations; and
• using an electronic health records for patients.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required competencies. Your resume will be evaluated on the following items:

• Making diagnosis or treatment decisions based on understanding of trauma informed care practices.
• Providing immediate care and services to individuals in a trauma, anxiety, or psychotic crisis state.
• Providing crisis intervention services in a wide variety of situations, including suicide intervention, drug & alcohol abuse and dependency, domestic violence.
• Conducting psychological tests/objective measures as a source of information for psychological diagnosis such as psychosis, Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar, etc.
  

Selective Placement Factor
Must possess and maintain a current, valid, unrestricted license as a psychologist in a State, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a territory of the United States.

Time In Grade
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade Requirements: Merit Promotion (status) candidates must have completed one year of service at the next lower grade level. Time-In-Grade provisions do not apply under the Excepted Service Examining Plan (ESEP).

You must meet all qualification requirements by the respective cut-off day of rating to be eligible for consideration.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required competencies. SMEs will review ONLY the first two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume).

Once the announcement closes, we will conduct a review of your application package to verify your eligibility and qualifications. If you are found qualified, your application will move forward to additional phases of the review process.

Click here to view vacancy questions: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12842295.

The first cutoff date will be Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 11:59 pm EST. Future cutoff dates will be each Wednesday at 11:59 pm EST until the closing date.

You must complete the application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) of the cut-off date/day listed.