Health Science Officer

Full Job Description

This position is within Investigators, Scientific Review and Management (ISRM) of the Office of Research and Development (ORD), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in the Office of Research and Development oversees over $2B in research conducted by over 3,000 VA scientists located in VA facilities across the United States.

*** This vacancy may be filled in Washington, DC or another location to be determined in a VA facility or other VA-leased space*** To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/13/2026.

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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: 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.

All applicants MUST meet the following Individual Occupational Requirements: Basic Requirement: You must posses a 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(external link) at the time the degree was obtained.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements, you MUST also meet the GS-15 specialized experience requirements.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Managing the direction of mental health research programs by program planning, development, and implementation; oversees the completion of projects by developing program evaluations to set objectives and plans; AND serves as an advisor in the research that leads to reducing disparities in mental health care.

Note: Evidence of specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held on your resume.

You must provide work experience information such as hours per week, salary, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of Specialized Experience at or comparable to the required grade level.

To be considered Best Qualified, the following experience must be verifiable in your resume/application: *Quality Ranking Factor: Expertise in suicide prevention, mental/behavioral health research and in management of mental /behavioral health research programs across the translational spectrum 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

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.

Physical Requirements: The work primarily is sedentary.

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/.

Major Duties:

Major Duties: Manages Suicide Prevention Actively Managed portfolio, totaling over $30 million in funding for projects and initiatives focused on rigorous research to prevent Veteran suicide.

Establishes funding opportunity announcements to cover the range of relevant research as well as priority areas.

Supports a transparent and equitable process for establishing priorities with major stakeholders including but not limited to the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, other relevant clinical program offices, VA investigators and Veterans.

Works with other units within ORD to ensure that funded research has appropriate infrastructure and regulatory support.

Serves as the authoritative officer in aspects relating to VA's Suicide Prevention portfolio and related mental health programs of research for all of ORD.

Interprets data generated from research studies as the subject matter and statistical expert.

Responsible for overseeing aspects of the program including committing resources, gaining compliance with policies and procedures, resolving complex issues, interacting across VA/VHA program and VISN offices and with external stakeholders and partners and identifying impactful research findings that could influence the direction of the research portfolio.

Briefs senior leadership and other Agency collaborators on actionable results from studies.

Works with senior investigators and statisticians to analyze study data for presentations, reports, and publications in scientific and medical journals.

Interacts with Congress, The White House, and Office of Science and Technology Policy to respond to inquiries, provide scientific remarks, and prepare reports.

Continuously monitors the national enterprise to foster translation of discoveries and ensure execution of clinical trials across multiple sites.

Oversees analysis of secondary data sources such as large administrative databases for Veteran and organizational data or disparate data sources that may contribute to the goals of the Suicide Prevention Program and related mental health research across VA.

Provides strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure portfolio management and analysis.

Continuously monitors and evaluates oversight policies, guidelines, operating procedures and program implementation Expands clinical trials and precision health networks to enable systematic real-world impact Position Description 4 4 355 on care for Veterans.

Recommends policies and procedures related to clinical care using scientific findings to Position Description 35331 establish evidence.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available. Telework: Available Remote: This is not a remote position.

Position Description/PD#: Health Science Officer/PD519720 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Salary differences: Aurora, CO $164,956 to $197,200 Seattle, WA $166,283 to $197,200 Washington, DC $169,279 to $197,200