Psychology Program Manager

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties:

• Maintains 40 direct reports including psychiatrists nurse practitioners nurses psychologists neuropsychologists clinical social workers addiction therapists and peer support therapists.
• Monitors work performance to ensure that requirements are satisfied; and interpret and process a wide variety of data related to program planning in the specialized needs of the Veterans.
• Manages key clinical training and administrative programs to include full responsibility for managing the day-to-day activities of those programs.
• Responsible for strategic planning to ensure the provision of high-quality services to meet the needs of Veterans being served in planning.
• Develops and implement programs policies and procedures to meet program goals VHA policy and external accreditation requirements. They monitor outcomes using data driven quality assurance processes and implement strategies for improvement based on data analysis.
• Prepares special reports and responses Congressional responses briefing papers issue briefs and decision papers for Medical Center leadership which may be highly sensitive confidential and complex.
• Monitor the clinical performance of staff conduct performance appraisals and perform other clinical and administrative responsibilities to ensure that the mission of the service and the Medical Center has been satisfied.
• Sets training objectives for staff and delegate responsibilities to subordinate sections.
• Identifies developmental and training needs of employees providing for and arranging for needed development and training.
• Performs performance evaluations of all staff assigned to the program approves time and leave approves overtime and comp-time monitors and oversees fund control points and oversees daily operations including budgetary oversight.
• Assists in effective integration of program efforts/activities with other medical center operations community-based agencies and activities. Delegates appropriate authority to subordinate leaders and coordinators. Assures responsibility for overall performance of their work units.
• Manages general personnel policies and established practices regarding program operations as they relate to key employees and management actions. Adjusts staffing levels or work procedures within the program to accommodate resource allocation decisions made at higher echelons.
• Ensures compliance with local and system wide program policy manuals and directives.
• Develops productivity standards appropriate to each service provided and each venue.
• Monitors and reports to Office of the ACOS regarding status of Mental Health Performance Measures for the Medical Center with preparation and implementation oversight for any corrective actions necessary.
• Prepares for the Healthcare System Directors signature after appropriate intermediate review Congressional and other controlled correspondence including responses to Office of Investigative General General Accountability Office Congressional Budget Office and other recommendations relevant to Psychology Service.
• Adheres to fire safety and security requirements.

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 evaluation.
• 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: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken & written English.
• 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. 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 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 the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 & 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. AND
• 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 & the 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 bodys requirement for continuing education.
• Grandfathering Provision: 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).

1. Ability to organize work set priorities delegate tasks and meet multiple deadlines.
2. Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
3. Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds interests and points of view.
4. Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
5. Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
6. Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
7. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.