Program Specialist

Summary

This position is one of Program Specialist, Research Coordinator with the Cooperative Studies Program in the Office of Research and Development (R&D), at Buffalo VA Medical Center.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** NOTE: This is a TEMPORARY appointment (not-to-exceed 1 year). This appointment may be renewed for additional service in accordance with Agency needs for 1 additional year. Temporary positions offer health insurance (if the employee is expected to work at least 130 hours per month for at least 90 days) but do not offer life insurance or retirement benefits and may be terminated at any time before the expiration date. The appointment to a Temporary position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment. Duties and Responsibilities: Organizes the day-to-day operations of Million Veteran Program (MVP), including enrolling participants, collecting data, and serving as a critical conduit to the Program Coordinating Center. Responsible for reviewing documentation completed by MVP personnel for accuracy and completeness of all local site documentation and records in the Investigator Study File. Ensures timely and complete submission of VA Central Institutional Review Board (IRB) documentation to Coordinating Centers as requested and prepares and submits all necessary documentation to local R&D. Responsible for escalating issues/concerns to all relevant stakeholders including adverse participant safety events, and other necessary communications. Responsible for ensuring MVP maintains compliance with all applicable regulatory concerns, including human subject protection and information security. Ensures MVP personnel follow all applicable protocols and regulations, including requirements for the protection of human subjects and research, safety and security. Serves as local site point of contact for all activities related to enrollment, including special events, and participant visits. Develops plans for expanding recruitment efforts within IRB guidelines and MVP protocol, including working with local site communication office in Veteran outreach programs. Performs all duties as assigned. Work Schedule: M-F (8am - 4:30pm) Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications for GS-9: Specialized Experience: Possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level of (GS-7) in Federal service. Specialized experience is managing research settings and coordinating projects including following protocols, enrolling and interviewing patients, and obtaining informed consent; following research investigatory processes, compilation of data, development and reporting of recommendation and findings. OR Graduate Education: Possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Combining Education and Experience: Possess a combinations of successfully completed graduate level of education and experience as described above to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels. To be computed by first determining the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for the grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: possess experience in managing clinical research projects and/or programs. English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. 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

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/.