Health Science Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/06/2024. 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. 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. This occupation has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) for all grades : The IOR is the basic requirement and must be met in addition to the Grade Determining requirements. The IOR for this occupation is Education: Bachelor’s or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. You must qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Grade Determination: GS 12 Health Science Specialist : Education or Specialized Experience or a combination of both as explained below. Specialized Experience: 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. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized Experience include but are not limited to : managing a clinical research program and providing a high level of assistance to the Principal Investigators of the clinical trials; assessing feasibility of research studies, study initiation, subject recruitment and enrollment, data collection and review, sample collection, preparation, and shipping, regulatory tasks, financial oversight, screening for clinical trials and program building at the VISN and national level. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR, Combination: Combination of Graduate Education and Professional Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of a Master’s or equivalent graduate degree may be combined with experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Clinical Data Collection/Documentation Information Technology Research and Development Project Management Research Preferred Experience: Experience in cancer clinical trials, especially NCTN ( NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network ) clinical trials. 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 Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, but does require walking, standing, and carrying light to moderately heavy packages or boxes (e.g. study documentation in binders, samples for shipping). Some travel will be required. Work Environment: The work is performed in a research and clinical setting. There are special considerations and training related to handling and processing blood or bodily fluids, which may be required in certain clinical trial protocols. Personal protective equipment (lab gown/coat, gloves) may be required based on the task. 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/.
Thank you for your interest in applying to this Health Science Specialist vacancy. This position is located in the Cancer Center under Hematology/Oncology Section in Medicine Service for the West Haven VA Medical Center and is at the full performance level of GS-12. The Cancer Center and affiliated investigators conduct multiple cancer-related clinical studies that make novel therapies available to patients with cancer and help advance the field of cancer medicine.