Health System Specialist ( Research Committee Manager)

Health System Specialist ( Research Committee Manager)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Buffalo, New York

Salary Range: $52243 - $100508 Per Year

Job Summary: This position serves as Health System Specialist - Research Committee Manager within the Research and Development (R&D) Service. The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value-driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden.

Major Duties:

• The Research Committee Manager position is vital within the ORD and the facilities where research programs are conducted. Research Program Managers provide the link between Veterans and highly innovative projects. Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: IRB Oversees and manages these programs and their activities, including preparation of committee and reviewer materials with appropriate documentation, ensuring projects are reviewed by appropriate personnel, and ensuring all outstanding issues related to project management are resolved in a timely manner. Serves in an advisory capacity to the R&D Leadership, research investigators, research committee members, and research committee Chairs and others on issues relative to carrying out the institution's research activities involving the use of humans, and safety procedures for investigative purposes. Serves as the accreditation Facility Liaison. Oversees the protocol review process of multiple programs and committees, ensuring projects are reviewed by appropriate personnel, including the Information System and Security Officer (ISSO) and Privacy Officer (PO), and issues related to project management are resolved. Develops and maintains a pre-review program that will coincide with the IRB review of all research involving human subjects Develops and manages required annual and semi-annual reviews of the assigned programs. Stays informed on guidelines relating to security and safety in the conduct of research and advises Research and Safety leadership, as needed. Educates the investigative community of local and external policies and procedures with regards to research involving animal and human subjects. Develops reporting procedures, sampling techniques, and measurements at various points in the research committee process and research programs to identify problem areas or inherent weaknesses in work processes, procedures, information systems and content. Quality and Compliance Responsible for maintaining the federal-wide assurance with the Office of Human Research Protection and ensuring IRBs are appropriately constituted and registered. Analyzes and evaluates each research project to ensure compliance with Federal and State regulations, including but not limited to VA, FDA, OHRP (Office of Human Research Protection), ORO, and other applicable regulatory and procedural requirements. Develops programs, policies, and procedures within the Research. Monitors quality assurance program implementation and indicators designed to prevent erroneous transactions and ineffective work practices and to verify adherence to quality assurance plans and requirements. Responsible for alerting investigators of deficiencies found within their submissions and educating them as to the steps required to correct the deficiencies. Administrative Oversight Assumes responsibility in preparing for all external reviews. Research and/or analyzes problems, administrative issues, or program requirements as they relate to human subject and the research review process. Initiates or reviews correspondence for all research. Oversees and refines customized, networked computerized databases to allow for timely tracking of research projects. Serves as the electronic records system administrator for the Research Office. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist ( Research Committee Manager)/PD99586S

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/24/2025. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. Individual Occupation Requirement: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.~OR Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. ~OR Special Provision for In-service Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program. In addition to the IOR, you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. For GS-7 position 1 year of specialized experience at GS-5: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of and skill in applying Federal, State and VA laws, rules, and regulations relative to compliance and the conduct of investigative studies; Apply analytical and evaluative techniques to the identification, consideration, and resolution of issues or problems of a procedural or factual nature in applying Federal, State and VA laws, rules and regulations relative to compliance and the conduct of investigative studies involving human subjects, animal study research, research safety and security, and research information information security. Provide advice and consultation to IRB chairs, members, and staff, and to educate the investigative community of local and external policies and procedures; Knowledge and skill to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing; Ability to create and present presentations and written reports; Conducts quality improvement activities, special projects or studies; and to identify and recommend solutions and strategies; to complex problems.an Experience in programs such as MS PowerPoint, Adobe Pro. For GS-9 position 1 year of specialized experience at GS-7: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of and skill in applying Federal, State and VA laws, rules, and regulations relative to compliance and the conduct of investigative studies; Provide advice and consultation to IRB chairs, members, and staff, and to educate the investigative community of local and external policies and procedures; Knowledge and skill to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing; Ability to create and present presentations and written reports; Conducts quality improvement activities, special projects or studies; and to identify and recommend solutions and strategies; to complex problems. Ability to use MS Word, Outlook, and Excel for word processing, communications, data manipulation and data storage aspects of work; Experience in programs such as MS PowerPoint, Adobe Pro, and other presentational and graphical programs for training and presentation purposes is also needed. For GS-11 position, 1 year of specialized experience at GS-9: Examples of specialized experience includes progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: (a) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (b) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; (c) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel and procurement; and knowledge of cognitive engineering, human factors engineering, human-computer interaction, or related fields. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have: GS-7: 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement GS-9: master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. GS-11 Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Critical Thinking Project Management Research 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. 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 11/24/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12827270. 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. To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-24