Program Specialist (Research Compliance Officer)

Summary

This position is located at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL. VHA Facility and is organizationally aligned under the Office of the Medical Center Director. The primary purpose of this position is to develop, implement, maintain and provide leadership, strategic direction, and oversight of compliance and training activities for the Research Program.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

05/14/2024 to 05/24/2024

• Salary

$97,079 - $126,198 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 12

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Chicago, IL

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

25% or less

• You may be expected to travel for this position.

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent

• This is not a Virtual/Remote Position.

• Work schedule

Full-time

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

None

• Job family (Series)

0301 Miscellaneous Administration And Program

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Other

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CAZP-12407483-24-WT

• Control number

791215700

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This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency

Current, permanent employees of the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, including CBOC, and VCS employees.

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Duties

DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Provides leadership, expertise, and strategic direction for the facility's research compliance program, and is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining compliance oversight activities in assigned areas of responsibility

• Develops strategy, policy and/or standards covering the facility's research compliance program activities and records

• Analyzes, prepares, and distributes research compliance program status reports

• Performs ongoing research monitoring and auditing in assigned areas of responsibility

• Conducts routine and "for cause" reviews as well as performance improvement activities to promote compliance, reduce violations of regulations and standards, identify unsatisfactory trends and conditions, and identify and communicate factors that may contribute to non-compliance

• Develops procedures and systems for establishing, operating, and assessing the effectiveness of· research compliance control systems and the accomplishment, evaluation, and/or monitoring of audits, inspections, and other reviews as needed

• Evaluates results of audits and inspections, and forwards action items to the responsible individual and/or organization

• Evaluates and updates standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maintain compliance with applicable Federal regulations and accreditation requirements

• Performs a variety of duties to assure full compliance in each of the five compliance programs human studies, animal studies, laboratory safety and radiation safety, conflict of interest, information security and privacy

• Serves as the primary local resource for regulations, policies, memoranda, alerts, and Federal requirements in assigned areas of responsibility

• Provides instruction to research oversight committees and committee coordinators covering a variety of topics in research compliance

• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday

• Friday 8:00am

• 4:30pm

Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual/remote position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Research Compliance Officer)/PD241820

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job

• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

• You may be required to serve a probationary period

• Subject to background/security investigation

• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, facility applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.05/24/2024.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience: At least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level. Specialized experience is defined as 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. Specialized experience for this position consists of: developing, implementing, maintaining and providing leadership, strategic direction, and oversight of compliance and training activities for a Research Program that include at least one or more of the following areas: the protection of human research subjects, laboratory animal welfare, and research safety and security; With the ability to address a wide range of research activities (e.g., pharmaceutical, mental health, health services, social sciences, physical health, tumor and tissue research, behavioral and other non-biomedical methods, animal research, and laboratory research).

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Compliance

• Compliance Inspection

• Education and Training

• Stakeholder Management

• Standards

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 Demands: Work is mainly sedentary. Traveling off station to other sites of care or various meetings is necessary and working overtime and odd hours, to include weekends may be necessary. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, such as instructional material, manuals, papers, and books.

Working Conditions: The work is usually performed in an office environment, meeting rooms or similar settings. Travel involves the normal risks and discomforts of automobile, bus, rail, or air transportation.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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• Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Note: Evidence of experience, must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held. Please provide such documentation on your application or resume. Also, please provide work experience information such as hours per week and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish one (1) full year of experience. The requirement for this proof is specified in the "How to Apply" section of this announcement. To be credible, experience must be documented in the application and verifiable through employment references and/or other means. Your resume must support your answers in the occupational questionnaire.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.