Health Science Specialist

This Health Science Specialist position is under the National Center for PTSD at the White River Junction VA Healthcare System in White River Junction, VT.

The National Center for PTSD was established to provide professional advice, guidance, and the development of policy and procedure for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Location is negotiable and you will work physically out of the VA closest to you, but report to White River Junction.

This position is not remote or virtual.

The duties of this position include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as the initial point of contact for all telephone and email consultation requests from a national audience of healthcare providers (inside and outside of the VA) and triages the requests to the most appropriate consultant.
• Provides consultation on resources by responding directly to questions from the VA and community providers.
• Brief the Consultation Program Director and Manager on the clinical nature of the questions from the field and creates written summaries of the clinical issues and responses.
• Coordinates weekly team meetings by organizing the agenda and carefully documenting the key topics discussed and any relevant decision s made.
• Coordinates logistical issues for large consultation meetings.
• Oversees and maintains centralized collection of important documents which include recommendations for adapting various types of clinical care.
• Data entry in the PTSD Consultation database.
• Oversees and maintains NCPTSD relevant Sharepoint sites.
• Provides technical assistance to team members to develop educational materials.
• Runs Access reports.
• Assist Program Manager in the planning and execution of lecture series and trainings.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Telework: This position may be authorized for ad-hoc telework.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Science Specialist/PD405-04168-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Notifications:

• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• 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.
• 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.
• This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position.
• Salary will be determined based on incumbents location and may be lower then salary listed.
• This position is NOT virtual or remote. You will be assigned to the nearest VA.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/15/2026.

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 11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 9. 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.

This occupation has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) for all grades : The IOR is the basic requirement and must be met in addition to the Grade Determining requirements.

The IOR for this occupation is 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 at the time the degree was obtained.

You must qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Grade Determination: GS 11 Health Science Specialist : Education or Specialized Experience or a combination of both as explained below.

• Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized Experience include but are not limited to : coordinating resources; managing Access, Teams, Excel, Adobe, Powerpoint; working directly with clinicians on PTSD consults; writing correspondences; assisting with logistics for meetings, trainings or lectures; maintaining of records and documents; data entry into various databases. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education.

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/.

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/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required is sedentary. There is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light objects. 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.
• 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 may 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.