Senior Psychologist (Service Chief) Mental Health

The Chief of Mental Health is responsible for defining the mission and vision of the Mental Health program developing the scope of practice for employees assigned designing plan of care and assuring implementation of quality improvement measures. The individual is responsible for developing planning clarifying administering and managing the Mental Health Service Line at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System (RHJVAHCS).

The Chief of Mental Health makes independent professional decisions and recommendations with infrequent recourse to supervisory guidance. The individual is responsible for advising management of specific clinical or administrative issues within the Mental Health Service Line and within the Medical Center. The position serves as a consultant and advisor to subordinates peers and administration.

Duties include but not limited to:

• Authority for resource allocations within the area of responsibility and ensures the efficient operation of the organizational unit.
• Possess broad and overall responsibility for the service-level department and full responsibility for clinical practice program management education human resource management and supervision for the service as appropriate.
• Provide leadership with objective independent assessments and recommendations for policy operational and administrative issues and initiatives requiring decision and action.
• Autonomously manage substantive parts of specialized complex professional services which significantly impact the care provided to Veterans.
• Overall responsibility for planning assessing and evaluating programs to ensure coordination between care delivered by the program and overall delivery of health care within the facility.
• Process data related to program planning and the specialized needs of the Veteran the service and the medical center.
• Ensure policies or issues have been fully coordinated vetted and staffed. Advise leadership entities including Executive Leadership on policy implications key issues and relationships to both internal and external interest groups and recommend courses of action.
• Maintain interdepartmental relations with other services to accomplish medical center goals.
• Service Chiefs coordinate and negotiate resolutions to complex problems.
• Prepare special reports and responses Congressional responses briefing papers issue briefs and decision papers for the medical center leadership which may be highly sensitive confidential and of a complex nature as requested.
• Develop policies procedures performance standards position descriptions and functional statements.
• Conduct performance appraisals and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities related to management of staff to ensure that the mission of the service and the medical center have been satisfied.
• Responsible for all professional management and administrative aspects of the service.
• Supervision and resource management involving major decisions work activities and supervision significantly affecting the ability of staff to provide comprehensive services to Veterans.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the Required Documents section of this announcement.

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Qualifications

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005 Part II Chapter 3 section A paragraph 3j.
• 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.
• 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 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.
  • OR 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.
    • NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/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 and 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 (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• AND (4) 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.
  • 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 candidates doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicants 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.

• Ability to supervise and manage a large group of professional staff effectively.
• Skill in interpersonal relationships including conflict resolution and ability to work collaboratively with supervisors from other units.
• Ability to accurately apply the qualification standards assesses the potential of current and prospective employees and promotes their professional development.
• Ability to develop appropriate productivity standards for professional staff often across multiple program lines.
• Knowledge of the goals and objectives of the medical center and VISN and ability to communicate these to subordinates.