Health Scientist

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Office of Science (OS) which is located in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The position of Health Scientist falls within the 0601 occupational series. To qualify for this position at grade GS-12/13, you must meet Time-in-Grade requirements by 11:59 pm EST on 04/17/2026.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

The specialized experience must demonstrate one year of full-time work experience , or the equivalent if part-time (for example, an employee working 20 hours per week for a 12-month period should be credited with 6 months of experience.) Experience may have been obtained in either the federal service or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations.

GS-12: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, which includes assisting with analyzing scientific and review processes to identify areas of improvement; assisting with implementing strategies designed to improve health science processes; and drafting and reviewing scientific literature to be shared with public health professionals throughout an organization.

GS-13: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, which includes analyzing scientific review processes to identify areas of improvement; implementing strategies designed to improve health science processes; and preparing and presenting briefings on scientific data related to regulatory activities designed to protect public health from the harm of tobacco and/or other regulated products.

In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description.

Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment.

The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the percentage of times the other duties were performed.

It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record.

In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.

PHS Commissioned Corps Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps may apply online to this announcement.

Candidates will be referred to (CC) personnel and not as candidates for conversion to a permanent career or career-conditional appointment.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account,https://secure.login.gov/ select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position.

The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application.

Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience.

In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time.

As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.

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; religious; 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. You must submit supporting documentation to verify your eligibility to apply for this vacancy.

For internal applicants an SF-50 will be required. If Educational requirements are listed, you must submit a Transcript, even if you occupy the series/grade in question.

See the Required Documents section for full details... Major Duties:

• Serve as a Health Scientist responsible for performing a wide range of research, analysis, review and advisory services.
• Conduct interdisciplinary research on health science, tobacco use behavior, addiction, risk and decision analysis and/or computational modeling approaches for tobacco products.
• Analyze and develop tools, systems, standard operating procedures and metrics to maximize clarity and understanding of risk analysis for tobacco products.
• Contribute to the development of scientific and program policies and objectives, appraising programs, and initiating requirements for studies.
• Serve as an advisor for the planning, design, implementation, and analysis of projects to assist Office of Science (OS) staff in making optimal public health decisions across their regulatory activities.
• Facilitate internal communication of Office of Science health risk assessment approaches and decision-making practices to stakeholders across CTP and FDA to support understanding and awareness of issues related to regulatory decision-making.
• Help disseminate information to external stakeholders in the tobacco and risk science communities sharing scientific findings with peers and supervisors through written and oral communication.