Psychologist (Organizational Engagement)

Summary

The VA Health Care System, located in Richmond, Virginia, has 1 vacancy for a full-time Staff Psychologist . The Psychologist will be fully qualified and certified to function in a clinical role and in accordance with the guidelines and policies of the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Duties

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Clinical Responsibilities:

• The incumbent is a staff psychologist providing intense organizational consultative services to employees at the Richmond facility.
• Incumbent works in the areas of competency modeling and assessment, organizational development and cultural transformation, report and statistical interpretation, communications strategy and planning, instructional systems design and implementation, program evaluation, and training and development.
• The incumbent will work closely with the Executive Leadership and Service Chiefs.
• Specializes in the development, implementation, application, and evaluation of systems in the areas of leadership development, work climate, and workplace assessment. The incumbent offers process consultation, task facilitation, action inquiry, coaching & mentoring to supervisors, and management consultation to both the clinical and administrative units of the Richmond facility as directed at improving organizational culture and performance.
• The incumbent works in the areas of cultural transformation, report and statistical interpretation, communications strategy and planning, instructional systems design and implementation, program evaluation, and training and development.
• The incumbent offers assessment services to the organization including knowledge of organizational culture, simulations, coaching and mentoring, training and evaluation. Incumbent offers process consultation to leadership groups and work groups.
• The incumbent utilizes coaching, best practices, and collaboration to improve service excellence throughout the organization and works to share and spread best practices. The incumbent will provide services to CVHCS employees located at the Fredericksburg HCC and/or CVHCS CBOCs as needed, not to exceed 15% of monthly workload.
• The incumbent serves as a member of the CVHCS committees or workgroups that address aspects of employee engagement and experience including but not limited to Employee Engagement projects, organizational development and transformation, systems redesign, HRO (high reliability organizations), leadership development and employee health and wellness efforts.
• Incumbent reports ongoing updates to EXO leadership and provides AES action planning program management activities to include reporting requirements, policy adherence, quality assurance, submission monitoring, metric analyses and creation of accountability systems.
• Provides ongoing consultation with local leadership to determine best practices that can be implemented to improve levels of employee engagement, civility in the workplace, and customer service.
• The incumbent serves on committees as assigned, makes presentations at national, VISN, facility and professional meetings as appropriate, and engages in other duties as requested or assigned.

Preferred experience:

• Systems Redesign - Organizational Development
• Program Management
• VA Experience

VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9XckTotal Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: M-F (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM)

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): NO

EDRP Authorized: Position(s) listed under this Open Continuous Announcement (OCA) MAY be eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. Learn more. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Ms. Monique Head, [redacted], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of 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: Ad-Hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Requirements

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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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.Basic Requirements:Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.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: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
• Education:
  
  • 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.
• Internships:
  
  • 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.)
  • 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.
  
  • Exception: Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment..

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

• GS-13: Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  
  • Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
  • Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
  • Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
  • Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
  • Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.

Preferred experience:

• Systems Redesign - Organizational Development
• Program Management
• VA Experience

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.The full performance level of this vacancy is 13.

Physical Requirements: The job requires sitting, walking, standing, and bending. Work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office and/or home space.

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