Research Health Scientist

Research Health Scientist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): San Antonio, Texas

Salary Range: $108001 - $140403 Per Year

Job Summary: This is a part time position (10 hours/week) & term appointment not to exceed 4 years. This position is located in the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center Service at South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, TX. The Research Health Scientist functions as a independent Principal Investigator and Team Leader for an original research program investigating the metrologies of cellular signaling and metabolic disease of aging as they relate to geriatrics and gerontology.

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*** This is a term appointment not to exceed 4 years. Term appointments are non-status, nonpermanent appointments of limited duration of more than 1 year, but not more than 4 years and are subject to a 1 year trial period. Should the need warrant, term appointments may be extended without further competition up to a maximum of the 4 year limitation. The appointment to a term position does not confer eligibility for promotion, reassignment, or transfer to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment. The Research Health Scientist is responsible for conducting original investigations related to the involvement of intracellular calcium signaling in the pathophysiology, complications, and treatment of metabolic diseases of aging, cellular disease mechanisms, and signal transduction research. Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Maintaining funding support for specialized research activities Serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) for a research program currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and/or the VA Originating independent research and exercising full responsibility for the management and operation of these research activities Leading team of staff in diverse research areas at all levels, coordinating research programs function in a cost effective, efficient, and productive manner Training and advising other researcher staffs at graduate and postdoctoral levels of training Demonstrating the ability to collaborate with investigators from a variety of disciplines, including geriatrics, gerontology, chemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, metabolism, immunology, and pathology Functioning as a researcher in the GRECC and exercising full responsibility for conducting collaborative and independent research in the above areas of research Coordinating the expenditure of support funding and ensures assigned laboratory spaces function in a cost effective, efficient, and productive manner Obtaining research grants from the VA, NIH and other public and private sources to fund research in the above areas of emphasis Administering all aspects of funding for his/her research and executing his/her grant budgets Presenting papers at meetings of regional and national scientific societies and preparing/submitting manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals in the above areas of emphasis Coordinating and conducting GRECC educational activities (including didactic and informal presentations at local, regional, and national levels; teaching sessions for postdoctoral fellows, residents, medical and graduate students, and other trainees at the VA and affiliated institutions) on topics relevant to his/her specialized area of research Work Schedule: Part Time (10 hours per week) Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Qualifications: Basic Requirement: The following are basic requirements for appointment as a Research Health Scientist in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met. Basic 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. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) Minimum Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements one of the following minimum requirement criteria must be met to be qualified for this position. Specialized Experience (GS-13): You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-12) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: providing direction and guidance regarding critical and complex geriatric immune, infectious disease, and vaccination responses to promote healthy aging; developing new methods, approaches, and procedures for active grant funding research projects which include both clinical and translational studies; leading an active grant funding project team, ensuring effective, efficient, and productive research study efforts; pursuing funding opportunities through National Institute of Health (NIH) and public/private sector grant approval; and administering all aspects for funding research to include complete execution of assigned project grant salary resources, and budgeting. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.) AND SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability, or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirement for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factors for this position are: SPF 1: Experience completing investigations and dissemination of active research funding in the specialized fields focused on how of immune resilience, infectious diseases, and vaccine responses shape functional trajectories and health span in older patients, with a strong emphasis on testing repurposed and novel interventions (e.g., metformin and other immunometabolic or immunomodulatory agents) to promote healthy immune aging. SPF2: Experience leading a grant funding project team of diverse staff at all levels through collaboration to ensure effective, efficient, and productive geriatric research efforts (e.g. grants options available from the organization, NIH, government, and/or public/private sector). You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Critical Thinking Leadership Problem Solving 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: Work is primarily sedentary but involves some walking and extended hours for the completion of experiments. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as equipment, instructional material, books and manuals. No special physical demands are required to perform the work although it is recommended the incumbent is physically capable of lifting 40 lbs. 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 03/09/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12896897. 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. 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 (210) 617-5300. 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: 2026-03-09