Program Specialist

Full Job Description

Please Note: This is a Term position Not-to-exceed four (4) years, the Million Veteran Program (MVP) funding is year to year. Funding commitment for the site is through September 2027.

The Program Specialist is a Research Coordinator for Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research and Development, located in Albany, NY.

The position is responsible for overseeing and organizing the day-to-day operations for the research team, including enrolling participants and collecting data.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/22/2026.

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.

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.

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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience working in a laboratory and health assessment environment.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or a LL.B.

or J.D., if related. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond one (1) full year of graduate education.

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:

This is a bargaining unit position. Areas of Consideration for all Other Positions: 1st - Facility-wide (including satellites) 2nd - Administration or Staff office posting the vacancy.

3rd - All other Status eligibles.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Total Rewards Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not available Telework: Not available Duty Location Status: Will work from a VA owned or leased space Position Description Title/PD#: Program Specialist/ PD18399A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary.

Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to complete the work. There may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as audio/visual equipment, papers, and books.

Major Duties: Manages the routine day-to-day activities of the program, including recruiting participants, conducting structured interviews, collecting data, and maintaining The Million Veteran Program (MVP) records for approximately 4000 participants per year.

Completes and maintains all program-related records for each participant, including consent forms, data management system, and source documentation worksheets.

Records data from samples and specimens to ensure that all tracking data is organized and is monitored during the progress of the study.

Coordinates specimens sent to the MAVERIC Core Lab (MCL) for review. (I.E., accurately labeled, documented, entered in lab system, etc.)