Health System Specialist

Full Job Description

This position serves as Health System Specialist - Research Committee/Grants Manager within the Research and Development (R&D) Service at the Providence VA Medical Center.

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.

This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2026.

To qualify at the GS-09 level, applicants must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: You must have at least (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Health System Specialist - Research Committee and provided you with knowledge of the full scope of activities required to conduct single & multisite research in the areas of human subject protection, biosafety, Institutional Review Boards (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), and R&D Committees through regulatory and policy compliance.

To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Specialized experience includes progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field.

This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities.

Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: (a) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (b) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; (c) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel and procurement; and knowledge of cognitive engineering, human factors engineering, human-computer interaction, or related fields.

OR EDUCATION (Transcript Required): Successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, successfully completed two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, LL.B or J.D in a related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration).

Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

OR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience as described above, to meet the total experience requirements.

The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e.

hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as course work in health care administration).

This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume.

To qualify at the GS-11 level, applicants must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: You must possess at least (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal Service, that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Health System Specialist - Research Committee and provided you with knowledge of the full scope of activities required to conduct single and multisite research in the areas of human subject protection, biosafety, Institutional Review Boards (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), and R&D Committees through regulatory and policy compliance.

To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Specialized experience includes progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field.

This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities.

Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: (a) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (b) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; (c) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel and procurement; and knowledge of cognitive engineering, human factors engineering, human-computer interaction, or related fields.

OR EDUCATION (Transcript Required): Successfully completed a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree, three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M.

in the related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration).

The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. NOTE: Copies of transcripts must be submitted with your application materials.

Education cannot be credited without documentation.

OR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond a master's degree) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements.

The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration).

NOTE: Copies of transcripts must be submitted with your application materials.

Education cannot be credited without documentation NOTE: One (1) 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 & responsibilities in each position & the number of hours a week spent in such employment NOTE: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study.

If that number cannot be obtained from the school, eighteen (18) semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study.

Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required.

Work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office. May require occasional travel. Major Duties:

The Research Committee/Grants Manager position is vital within the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the facilities where research programs are conducted.

Research Committee/Grant Managers provide the link between Veterans and highly innovative projects.

As Grants Manager the position is fully responsible for managing all VA Merit Award funding submissions to support investigator initiated research at the VA Providence.

The position is also required to manage regulatory committees and provide subject matter expertise regarding the underlying regulations in ensuring compliance in research.

The position provides high level analytical and procedural support of projects in a comprehensive research setting, providing day-today support for the VA Research Program.

Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Responsible for implementation of pre-award and post award activities.

This includes submission and monitoring grant applications through the grant life cycle and providing guidance and support to Investigators; Prepares budgets, facility and resources guidance and letters of intent in a timely manner according to sponsor instructions; Serves in an advisory capacity to the Leadership, research investigators, research committee members, and research committee chairs and others on issues relative to carrying out the institution's research activities involving the use of humans, animals, and safety procedures for investigative purposes; Oversees and manages research committee programs and their activities, including preparation of committee and reviewer materials with appropriate documentation, ensuring projects are reviewed by appropriate personnel, and ensuring all outstanding issues related to project management are resolved in a timely manner; Oversees and refines customized, networked computerized databases to allow for timely tracking of research projects; Monitors quality assurance program implementation and indicators designed to prevent erroneous transactions and ineffective work practices and to verify adherence to quality assurance plans and requirements; Assumes responsibility in preparing for all external reviews and audits which includes securing all necessary documents and demonstrating practices to reflect full compliance; Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Full-time.

Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Position Description Title/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD99493-S and PD99586-S Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met.

Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Telework: This is not a remote position. Telework may be authorized on an Ad-Hoc basis only.

Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action).

The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.