Research Health Science Specialist
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Job Summary
The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings and to advance value driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden. The position is vital within the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the facilities where research programs are conducted. Health Science Specialists provide the link between veterans and highly innovative projects.
This is a bargaining unit position.
VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Total Rewards
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not available
Telework: Ad-Hoc only
Duty Location Status: Will work from a VA owned or leased space
Position Description Title/PD#: Research Health Science Specialist/ PD48937
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary with occasional walking standing and handling and carrying items such as paper and books.
Major Duties:
- Assist in identifying and recruiting patients to participate in study protocol
- Communicate with referred participants via phone or mail and provide consent forms via mail or email as needed
- Assist in ensuring research studies maintain compliance with all applicable local and federal regulatory concerns including human subject protection and information security.
- Serve as liaison and be able to answer questions regarding the study protocol.
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
- Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
- Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
- Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- A complete application package i.e. Resume Transcripts etc. as required by the job announcement.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
- 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.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- Pre-employment physical evaluation may be required.
To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 07/29/2026.
Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.
Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year this instance you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade.
Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
AND
Basic Requirements: This section covers the basic requirements for this vacancy. For positions at the GS-09 grade level applicants may qualify by meeting or exceeding the minimum proficiency level established for each of the required competencies in addition to meeting the minimum qualification requirement as demonstrated through the assessment of skills identified through the agencys job analysis.
Applicants must meet the requirements of the competency-based qualification standard to be fully qualified.
NOTE: The basic requirements MUST be substantiated in your resume. Failure to provide the required information will render your application ineligible for consideration.
You must possess one-year of Specialized Experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience collecting and analyzing data performing difficult but well-precedented assignments advising on healthcare needs set up and implement new procedures assess and correlate data and ability to understand manipulate analyze and convey results from the data.
NOTE: The Specialized Experience MUST be substantiated in your resume.
PLEASE NOTE: Applicants may also be considered to have satisfied the minimum qualification requirements for a position if they can present evidence that clearly justifies a high evaluation of their competence such as one or more of the following:
- Appropriate licensure registration(s) certification(s); or
- A substantial record of experience achievement and publications that demonstrates eminence in the appropriate profession/technical field.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.
Receiving Service Credit or 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. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice your most recent performance rating and your most recent SF-50 noting current position grade level and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPMs Career Transition Resources website at job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (or the Act) prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from requesting applicant criminal history record information before extending a conditional or tentative offer of accordance with 5 U.S.C 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Act may submit a written complaint within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged non-compliance to VA at . Applicant written complaints should include the following:
- Administration name: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
- Office name employee name and contact information or contractor who made contact (if known).
- Date of contact.
- Details regarding the job opportunity announcement applied to and copies of any documents or other evidence related to the complaint.
- Visit Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) for more information.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Experience:
IC
