Senior Psychologist (Program Manager)

Full Job Description

The Senior Psychologist Program Manager serves as Deputy Chief of Psychology at VALB HCS, advising the Chief and overseeing major programs.

The role includes strategic planning, operations, resource management, and supervision of interdisciplinary staff.

The incumbent ensures quality care, regulatory compliance, workforce development, and effective delivery of mental health services to Veterans.

VA Careers - Clinical Psychologist: www.youtube.com/watch?v=77qHlLw9Xck Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Licensure: Applicants must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Education: Applicant must have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed.

The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicants are to be employed.

For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills.

Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas.

PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science.

CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology; OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and The specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

Internship: Applicants must have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed OR New VHA Psychology Internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern OR VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement OR Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed OR Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program.

If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations: Senior Psychologist Program Manager, GS-15 Experience: Applicants must have at least 4 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-14).

In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Skill in managing and directing the work of large, complex organizational units and in applying effective management practices.

Skill in persuasion, negotiation, and motivation to negotiate multiple program policies.

Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees and other managers using advanced consultation and problem solving skills.

Skill in the application and analysis of measurement tools to systems issues.

Ability to balance responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy; ability to set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze complex organizational problems; and ability to develop and implement effective solutions for those problems.

Ability to assess need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic contexts. Ability to coordinate the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system. Assignment.

For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

At the GS-15 level generally manage large, complex programs in Complexity Level 1 (High Complexity) facilities, or in facilities of lesser complexity levels that have large psychology or mental health services.

Responsibilities may include supervision.

SPPM's have very broad responsibility for multiple programs or have responsibility for a large service organization that is of considerable scope, size, and complexity.

Responsibilities include strategic planning to ensure the provision of quality services to meet the needs of the Veterans being served, development of short- and long-range goals and plans; development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure that plans are carried out and goals are met; management of administrative and programmatic resources; and monitoring outcomes using data-driven quality assurance processes.

Decisions affect staff and other resources associated with the programs managed; decisions are made exercising very wide latitude and independent judgment.

They have oversight of administrative and programmatic resources and deploy those resources in support of the program needs.

The programs managed are substantial and deliver specialized, complex, highly professional services, significantly impacting the health care provided to Veterans.

Senior Psychologist Program Managers have full responsibility for oversight of the professional practice of psychology in medical centers or health care systems and ensure the highest quality of psychological care provided to Veterans throughout the facility and its affiliated clinics.

This position is above the full performance level. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is at the GS-15 level.

Preferred Experience: 7 or more years of VA Experience, 4 or more years supervisory experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: Traveling throughout the medical center and the community is required, as is performing activities involving sitting, walking, and standing, bending and carrying such items as books, papers, and files.

In carrying out responsibilities, it may be necessary for the Psychologist Therapist to travel into the community, to main campus or to other CBOCs where they conduct interviews with the veterans, their families, representative of community health and welfare agencies and law enforcement agencies.

Major Duties:

VA Careers - Mental Health Professionals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMintJXa3Y The Senior Psychologist Program Manager serves as the Deputy Chief of Psychology for the Mental Health Healthcare Group at the GS-15 level within the VA Long Beach Healthcare System (VALB HCS), a large, highly complex medical center offering a full continuum of mental health, inpatient, and outpatient care.

The incumbent functions as the principal advisor and second-in-command to the Chief of Psychology, with delegated authority for operational, clinical, and administrative oversight of multiple high-visibility, systemwide programs and interdisciplinary staff.

The incumbent exercises broad responsibility for strategic planning, program execution, resource allocation, workforce development, and compliance across assigned sections of the Psychology Service and Mental Health Care Group.

The position provides supervision to psychologists, program managers, interdisciplinary clinicians, peer support staff, vocational rehabilitation staff, recreation therapists, and technical personnel delivering services to thousands of veterans annually.

Duties of the position include but are not limited to: Provides leadership, planning, and oversight for high-complexity, systemwide programs including Suicide Prevention Program (SPP), Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Recovery Center (PRRC), Compensated Work Therapy (CWT), Peer Support Services, Local Recovery Coordination, Inpatient Psychology, and Recreation Therapy.

Serves as a second-line or first-line supervisor for program staff.

Ensures all assigned programs meet national VA performance measures, regulatory requirements, Joint Commission standards, and mental health handbook mandates.

Participates in long-range strategic planning for Mental Health, including resource forecasting, workforce modeling, and program expansion proposals.

Manages service-level processes impacting quality, safety, patient access, and interdepartmental coordination.

Hiring, performance evaluations, workload assessment, disciplinary actions, competency reviews, and professional development.

Ensuring credentialing/privileging, scope-of-practice maintenance, and compliance with VHA professional standards.

Clinical Responsibilities include psychological assessment or intervention services and maintains clinical competency and support service needs; providing expert consultation for difficult or high-risk cases, interprofessional treatment planning, and program development efforts.

Develops, implements, and evaluates policies, procedures, and practice standards for assigned program areas.

Conducts performance analyses, quality improvement initiatives, and root cause analyses for adverse events or systems-level concerns.

Leads responses for internal and external audits, SAIL measures, and reporting requirements.

Provides training, mentorship, and consultation to psychologists, trainees, interdisciplinary staff, and leadership.

Supports APA-accredited internship and postdoctoral training programs through teaching or supervisory involvement.

Acts as a subject matter expert for clinical, administrative, and programmatic inquiries across the facility.

Represents Psychology Service in facility-wide committees, including Suicide Prevention Committee, Mental Health Executive Council, and additional workgroups as assigned.

Engages in community partnerships and interagency coordination supporting recovery-oriented and whole-health care. Serves as Acting Chief of Psychology in the absence of the Chief.

Participates in emergency response roles, disaster planning, and continuity-of-operations processes.

Supports recruitment, retention, and succession planning for psychology staff across the service Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: May be available Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 00000/ Senior Psychologist Program Manager Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized