Health Science Specialist

Health Science Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Los Angeles, California

Salary Range: $86199 - $112053 Per Year

Job Summary: Employee will be assigned to Medical Research Services, Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA. The primary purpose of the position is to apply health services research, public health practice, project management, as well as administration and evaluation expertise to the design, implementation, and analysis of research and quality improvement projects.

Major Duties:

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (not-to-exceed 4 years). Term appointments are non-status, nonpermanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4 year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment. Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Project Leadership: provides operational leadership and coordination for the implementation of VA research and quality improvement projects as directed, according to the principles set forth by the Center of Innovation and study Principal Investigators. Handles project questions and problems independently in coordination with the Principal Investigator. Manages timelines and deliverables for successful completion of the projects, writes research policies, guidelines and procedures, and other documents, facilitating compliance with all regulatory and administrative requirements. Monitors the activities of all sites to maximize achievement of scientific aims of their assigned projects, including issues of accuracy of data and accrual of project participants. Management of Local Health Services R&D Programs: works closely with the Principal Investigators and project sites to develop and implement procedures for data collection and management, to identify information technology (IT) needs and to coordinate scientific management; identifies data access, management and storage requirements; and organizes the response to scientific (merit) review and evaluation of research programs. Monitors compliance with program requirements, conducts program assessments, and prepares reports. Procurement/Contracting/Fiscal Management: ensures timely execution of all study-related research contracts; manages contracts for logistics, services and personnel; coordinates the acquisition of supplies, equipment and services; originates and manages Intergovernmental Personnel Agreements (IPAs) with affiliate institutions and non-profit agencies. Supervision of Research Personnel: develops appropriate work plans based on broad consultation with study Principal Investigators regarding priorities and overall project needs; oversees Study/Project Coordinators, Research/Program Assistants, support staff, assisting the Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators to monitor their work and set priorities; plans work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts short-term priorities, and prepares schedules for completion of work; assigns work to subordinates based on priorities, consideration of the difficulty of work and capabilities of employees. Identifies and arranges for development and training needs of staff. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

Qualifications: BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT - Applicants must possess a Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree with 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS - In addition to meeting the above requirement, you must also meet one of the additional requirements as described below to qualify for this position. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE - Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped them with the knowledge, skill and ability to successfully perform the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, this specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: providing project management services essential to the direction and operation of a clinical/health services research program to include budget/fiscal management and oversight of staff and human resources requirements; collecting and analyzing data to ensure the effectiveness of research program operations; identifying and arranging for staff development and training; ensuring research studies are conducted in accordance with applicable guidelines and regulations; and utilizing software programs to formulate presentations, maintain and manipulate databases, and prepare reports. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Successful completion of 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree with a major in a field appropriate to the work of this position that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work is qualifying at the GS-11 grade level. OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Administration and Management Project Management Research 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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. There is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as 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/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 12/22/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12853858. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ 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. 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. For more information on how to apply using this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator within the office, contact the facility Human Resources Department at (310) 478-3711. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more before any Veterans preference points) for this vacancy. 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/.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-22