Senior Psychologist- Deputy Chief of Staff for Health Care and Business Operations

Major Duties may include: Overseas patient care programs and performance improvement initiatives for all HCBO programs. May provide coverage for the VAMHCS COS, and, in this capacity, oversee clinical operations for the facility.

Collaborates with the Chief of Staff and other members of the Executive Leadership Team, to achieve seamless coordination and implementation of HCBO programs across all VAMHCS sites. Coordinates, motivates, and guides implementation of directives.

Serves as a catalyst for change in the HCBO and works with HCBO staff as appropriate to implement, guide, develop, and improve patient care programs, performance improvement initiatives, performance measure improvements and related processes.

Overseas multiple programs in VAMHCS which is a very large, complex, multi-site, highly affiliated, Category 1b VA Health Care System serving tens of thousands of Veterans throughout Maryland and surrounding areas. Functions as a senior level program manager within VAMHCS.

Duties of the Deputy Chief of Staff, HCBO involve responsibility for oversight of all HCBO programming as well as setting of goals, priorities, policies, procedures, clinical programs, and resource allocations pertaining to the HCBO.

Provides leadership in establishing minimal standards as well as benchmarks for clinical practice, performance measure goal achievement, problem solving, utilization review, risk management, and productivity applicable to professional groups represented within HCBO programs.

Responsible for identifying opportunities for improvement, implementing the use of nationally recognized clinical practice guidelines, ensuring the development and implementation of effective and successful ongoing monitoring, evaluation of performance measures, and clinical reminder performance Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 (1) 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 and 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, and 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.

Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).

OR (2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, 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: (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

OR (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND Internships (a) Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

OR (b) 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 and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR (c) 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 (d) 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 (e) Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 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. Licensure.

Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

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).

Grandfathering Provision. [All persons employed in VHA as a psychologist on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education (i.e., degree and internship requirements) and licensure/certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. 1.

Employees grandfathered under this provision for this revision may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions or beyond the assignment currently held for those being grandfathered to assignments above FPL. 2.

Psychologists who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. 3.

Psychologists initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Senior Psychologist, GS-15 (Service Chief): Experience. At least four years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 1. Ability to supervise and manage a large group of professional staff effectively. 2.

Skill in interpersonal relationships, including conflict resolution and ability to work collaboratively with supervisors from other units. 3. Ability to accurately apply the qualification standards, assesses the potential of current and prospective employees, and promotes their professional development. 4.

Ability to develop appropriate productivity standards for professional staff, often across multiple program lines. 5. Knowledge of the goals and objectives of the medical center and VISN and ability to communicate these to subordinates.

Preferred Experience: The preferred candidate will have extension leadership experience and a record of clinical, academic, research, and administrative experience fostering inter-institutional relationships in a academic setting along with proven managerial skills in a health care environment.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-15. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019