Senior Psychologist (Chief Psychology Service)

Summary

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center is hiring a Senior Psychologist to serve as the Service Chief for Psychology Service. This position is aligned under the Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health (ACOS MH). Responsibilities are complex in scope, involving supervision and management of several

specialty mental health programs, as well as oversight of the practice of Psychology throughout the Medical Center and its Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

01/22/2024 to 05/01/2024

• Salary

$165,133 - $214,669 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 15

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Battle Creek, MI 1 vacancy

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-Ad-Hoc or at supervisor's discretion

• Travel Required

25% or less

• You may be expected to travel for this position.

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent -

• Work schedule

Full-time -

• Service

Excepted

• Promotion potential

15

• Job family (Series)

0180 Psychology

• Supervisory status

Yes

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

Yes

• Position sensitivity and risk

Moderate Risk (MR)

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CBSR-12285825-24-AP

• Control number

772303400

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This job is open to

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency

Qualified applicants to this position will be referred and considered in the following order 1- Current, permanent employees of the Battle Creek VAMC/CBOCs // 2- Current, permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration // 3- Current, permanent Employees of Other Federal Agencies.

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Duties

Major duties and responsibilities of this position include:

The incumbent has very broad, comprehensive responsibility for Supervision and Administrative oversight of several residential treatment

programs and specialty outpatient programs at the Battle Creek VAMC and the multidisciplinary staff that serve in them. These programs provide specialized professional mental health services that significantly impact the health care provided to veterans. The incumbent is also responsible

for ensuring the quality of services provided by psychologists throughout the Medical Center and its CBOCs via credentialing, privileging, and on-going and focused professional practice evaluation activities.

The specific responsibilities of the Chief of Psychology Service are to:

• Provide direct or indirect (through subordinate supervision) administrative and professional supervision of subordinates.

• Perform the overall administrative and personnel management functions relative to staff supervised.

• Observes and evaluates workers' performance.

• Resolve informal complaints and grievances.

• Develop work improvement plans, recommending personnel actions as necessary.

• Provide advice and counsel to workers related to work and administrative matters Effects disciplinary measures as appropriate to the authority delegated in this area.

• Manage time and leave.

• Assure that all staff within the service receive needed professional training

• Accountable for the effective functioning of groups of programs and treatment teams.

• Supervises and mentors the program managers and/or individual members.

• Be responsible for the acquisition, allocation, maintenance/monitoring, and evaluation, of human resources, equipment, and supplies.

• Coordinate the plans for ensuring Psychology Service's programs' success.

• Plan, organize, implement, and direct programs with respect to priorities, schedules, work activities, workload, and staff deployment.

• Formulate policies and procedures, set standards, and conduct administrative reviews to ensure optimum service to patients and coordination between program elements.

• Responsible for the implementation, review and update of policies and procedures in Psychology Service.

• Maintain records of work accomplishments and prepare clinical service workload, and Quality Assurance Reports as required. Develop, implement and monitor the accomplishment of the annual Psychology Service Quality Improvement (QI) Plan, monitors, and follow-up.

• Responsible for compliance with standards from outside agencies including the Joint Commission, CARF, OSHA, VISN, and VACO.

• Responsible for adherence to the affirmative action objectives of the organization and the goals of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).

• Ensure the Psychology Training Program meets all training standards.

• Have full responsibility for the professional practice of psychology, including services conducted by trainees, consultants and para-professional staff, and ensuring that all psychologists in the facility and its affiliated clinics meet the requirements.

• Responsible for credentialing, privileging, and on-going and focused professional practice evaluation activities of psychologists.

Clinical Responsibilities (10% of time).

• Provides a full range of psychodiagnostic services

• Performs psychological consultations and evaluations.

• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions

Other Significant Responsibilities (10% of time)

• Serves as Chairperson of the Medical Center's Clinical Advisory Panel.

• Represents psychologists on the Medical Center Professional Standards Board.

• Participates in conferences/meetings with Medical Center Leadership.

• Oversees the establishment of program monitors and outcome measurements within assigned program units using data-driven quality assurance processes.

• Oversees or is involved in the training of psychology trainees, interns, or post-doctoral fellows, as well as psychiatry residents and students from other health professions, as appropriate.

• Responsibilities include resource management and distribution, budget formulation and monitoring, assessing staffing levels and needs, space planning, and assessing equipment and technology needs.

• Serves as Acting Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health when requested.

• Mentors and facilitates an active program of clinical research by Psychology Staff and staff from other disciplines.

• Holds adjunct faculty appointment at affiliated university.

• Serves as internship and postdoctoral program site visitor for the American Psychological Association.

Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 8:00a-4:30p

Telework: Ad-hoc or at supervisor's discretion

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

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

• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

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

• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.

• 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

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.

• English Language Proficiency Requirement

• Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.

• Education Requirement

• You 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 applicant is to be employed. OR, have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

• Internship Requirement

• You 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 fulltime, 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). NOTE: 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.

• Licensure: Candidates 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.

Experience: In additional to meeting the basic requirements as stated above, you must have the following:

At least four years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 level

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Ability to supervise and manage a large group of professional staff effectively.

• Skill in interpersonal relationships, including conflict resolution and ability to work collaboratively with supervisors from other units.

• Ability to accurately apply the qualification standards, assesses the potential of current and prospective employees, and promotes their professional development.

• Ability to develop appropriate productivity standards for professional staff, often across multiple program lines.

• Knowledge of the goals and objectives of the medical center and VISN and ability to communicate these to subordinates.

References: Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18 Psychologist Qualification Standard.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15.

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary in nature in climate controlled environments. Exposure to patients experiencing Serious Mental Illness may be frequent or recurring.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

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.

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

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

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

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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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

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.

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