Supervisory Psychologist (Vet Center Director)

Summary

Readjustment Counseling Service is a unique organization within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that provides direct readjustment counseling, community outreach and referral services to eligible Veterans, active military Service members whose service was in support of combat operations, who suffered a military sexual trauma, provides direct emergent medical care or mortuary services to casualties of war.

Learn more about this agency

Help

Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

03/14/2024 to 03/21/2024

• Salary

$103,409 - $134,435 per year

The salary listed is for the "Rest of US" and may be adjusted depending on location of the duty station

• Pay scale & grade

GS 13

• Help

Locations

4 vacancies in the following locations:

• Lakewood, NJ 1 vacancy

• Philadelphia, PA 1 vacancy

• Martinsburg, WV 1 vacancy

• Wheeling, WV 1 vacancy

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

No

• 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

None

• Job family (Series)

0180 Psychology

• Supervisory status

Yes

• Security clearance

Other

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

National security

• Announcement number

CBZY-12349916-24-LRW

• Control number

781612900

Help

This job is open to

• Federal employees

• Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Federal employees

• Excepted service

Current excepted service federal employees.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

• The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

NOTE: Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference to ALL external applicants for this job announcement.

Videos

Help

Duties

NOTE: This position is multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Social Worker, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Marriage & Family Therapist, and Psychologist. Applicants must apply to the appropriate vacancy announcement.

The incumbent serves as Supervisory Psychologist on the multidisciplinary team that is located in a community-based Vet Center that provides veterans with community outreach, counseling, therapy, treatment and direct services and referral to VA and community resources and community education regarding the problems and needs of the Veteran.

The incumbent's primary responsibility is to provide clinical and administrative leadership, management and supervision of all Vet Center staff and all other professional, paraprofessional and nonprofessional staff assigned to work at the Vet Center and to plan, develop, implement, coordinate, monitor and evaluate all treatment services of the Vet Center. Additional duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Ensures that the Vet Center operates in an efficient manner that ensures good patient care. Budget management, clinical staff supervision, compliance to applicable RCS and VHA policy is performed on a routine basis.

• Responsible for staff selection, education and career development.

• Provides clinical, professional, and administrative supervision to the clinical staff of the Vet Center, to include evaluating staff performance.

• Provides screening/assessment of Veteran clients, treatment planning and goal setting, referral to service providers, development of a resource file, Veteran advocacy, crisis intervention, education/health promotion, coordination of non-institutional and institutional services, and individual/group counseling.

• Develops, implements, and measures market penetration of Vet Center services through a comprehensive outreach plan for the primary service area of the Vet Center.

• Ensures the most efficient assignment of staff to meet client needs within allotted resources.

• Provides crisis intervention, stabilization and follow-up for Veterans and significant others.

• Keeps abreast of current state-of-the-art procedures, processes and data-driven treatment approaches.

• Develops and determines appropriate community referral resources in the VA and private sector, and will refer Veterans and their family members to those available resources when appropriate.

• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00am

• 4:30pm; Monday

• Friday; Some evenings and weekends may be required to meet the needs of Veterans

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increase when setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 76787A

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

VA Careers

• Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf

Help

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.

• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.

• 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.

• Education: Candidates must meet one of the following:

• 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 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: a.) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b.) 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: Candidates must meet one of the following:

• 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.

• Licensure: 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.

Grade Determinations:

GS-13 Experience. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.

• Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.

• Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Preferred Experience: Working with combat veterans in providing family counseling services; working with veterans who were sexually traumatized/harassed while in the military; conducting psycho-social assessments and the provision of processing psychotherapy for trauma related conditions; and implementing treatment plans for combat Veterans/and their families.

References: VA Handbook 5005/103, Part II, Appendix G18, dated February 7, 2018.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. It may require some lifting (10-20 lbs) occasionally. Reaching above shoulder; Frequent keyboarding (4-7 hours per day); Sitting (4-7 hours per day); Walking up to 6 hours per day); Standing (up to 8 hours per day); Infrequent climbing/descending of stairs; Some bending; Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously.

Environmental factors: outside and inside, electrical energy, working closely with others, protracted or irregular hours of work, and repetitive computer use.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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.

Read more

• Benefits

Help

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 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.

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.