Psychology Program Manager (Suicide Prevention) - EDRP Authorized

Psychology Program Manager (Suicide Prevention) - EDRP Authorized

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Balcones Heights, Texas

Salary Range: $157413 - $204637 Per Year

Job Summary: This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Major Duties:

• VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9XckTotal-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf Psychology Program Manager Duties: Administrative Responsibilities 1. Incumbent chairs the local Suicide Prevention Committee, is a member of the Patient Safety Council, is a member of the Environment of Care Council, and assigned to the VISN and National Suicide Prevention Team. 2. Approve all leave requests from interdisciplinary staff to ensure adequate clinical coverage of work duties on any given time. 3. Meet with Team Leads, Supervisors and Program Managers on a regular basis to ensure adequate transfer of patients between clinics, adequate service offerings among clinics for the management of high-risk veterans. 4. Review policies and procedures with staff to ensure compliance with performance measures related to SAIL, Joint Commission, OIG, Veteran's Crisis Line responsiveness and psychiatric emergencies. Answers or delegates responses to Patient Advocacy complaints, Issue Briefs, OIG complaints or Congressional inquiries. 5. Oversight of administrative and programmatic resources such as clinical demands and needs including psychological testing instruments, self-report measures, therapy treatment manuals, patient workbooks, and educational materials in support of staff needs. 6. Facilitate staff meetings with interdisciplinary psychotherapists for collaboration on mutual high-risk veterans, compliance with performance measures and ensuring seamless access between programs in order to mitigate risk. 7. Attend meeting with Medical Directors and Program Support Assistant to review management of assignments, community outreach expectations, and review requests for presentations to internal and external stakeholders. 8. The incumbent assures that all Office of Mental Health/Suicide Prevention, National Patient Safety, Office of Inspector General and Joint Commission standards and policies are adhered to in a timely and effective manner. This includes developing screening and assessment tools for at risk Veterans, providing oversight of high-risk Veterans through patient record flagging and tracking of patient care, and leading mental health environment of care rounds and reporting for the facility. The incumbent implements, monitors and tracks all national, VISN and local suicide prevention mandates, policies and procedures. 9. The incumbent has excellent organizational skills and strong interpersonal and communication skills essential for delivering distance-based mental health services. The incumbent further contributes to a high-performance environment and a dedicated team orientation. Incumbent will participate in national program evaluation and research procedures designed to assess clinical impact, patient satisfaction, and other aspects associated with the delivery of care by way of suicide prevention modalities. 10. Program Manager meets on a regular basis with the AO's for status updates on programmatic changes, alterations to clinic staff schedules, review clinical demands and requests and ensure adequate coverage of clinic during holidays and other seasonal demands Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 08:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: Position is eligible for Ad-hoc telework Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 54936-F EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VISN17EDRP2@VA.GOV, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Qualifications: Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body & not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology & school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology & in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; & the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript &/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above & who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards. OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 & 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed & that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed; OR New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology & VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) OR Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 & 1978 from a regionally- accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program. NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard. Licensure: Hold a full, current & unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia. Loss of Credential: A psychologist who fails to maintain the required licensure must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified & if a placement opportunity exists. Board Certification & Loss of Credential Board Certification: Board Certification. Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. The board certificate must be current & the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. Loss of Credential. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid & unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified & if a placement opportunity exists. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive & Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken & written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: Psychology Program Manager, GS-14 Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines. Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools. Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds, interests, and points of view. Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives. Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations. Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program. Please see Additional Information Section for additional Qualifications

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full 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 12/23/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12853447. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS 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.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-23