Summary

This Psychology Program Manager- BHIP South Program Manager position is in Mental Health services at the VA Maine Healthcare Systems, located at the Lewiston/Portland, ME locations.

Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

NOTE: This multi-discipline recruitment that will result in the hiring of one of the following disciplines: Social Worker; Psychologist; Psychiatrist; Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant



Social Worker Posting: CBTD-12995264-26-MK



Physician Assistant Posting: CBTD-13013647-26-CB

The Program Manager is responsible for the implementation and oversight of multiple teams with Team Leads that report to them. The Program Manager is a supervisory position. The Program Manager is provided administrative time to manage their teams.

Duties may include, but are not limited to:

Program Management Responsibilities: (50%)

• Maintain overall responsibility for their teams and the delivery of outpatient general mental care.
• Report directly to the Chief of Mental Health Service.
• Supervise staff members on their team.
• Educate and assist teams in the implementation of various initiatives that impact their programs.
• Review daily the number of consults conducted in their Teams
• Receive or pull daily information about open encounters on the team and share with the team leads.
• Gather data weekly and disseminate to the team leads in weekly meetings.
• Supervise personnel who build the clinics for the teams.
• Receive information from leadership daily about call outs for the team and work with team to help patients be seen or rescheduled.
• Manage interpersonal dynamics as they arise.

Clinical Responsibilities: (50%)

• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostics and treatment planning services including clinical interviewing, assessment, and consultation.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions including individual and group psychotherapy.
• Selects and provides the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care, including evidence-based care.
• Consults with mental health staff and other medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• Participate in multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment teams.
• Maintain security of Veterans' medical records and disability claims files ("C file"), as well as psychological test materials in accordance with HIPPA guidelines, APA ethical standards, and state statutes as applicable.
• Functions independently as a member of the Mental Health Service, with full clinical privileges; assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patientcare decisions, and documentation.
• Completes administrative functions, including report and progress note writing, and attending staff and organizational meetings.
• Works in compliance with local and national performance measures, including timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30a.m. to 4p.m.

Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

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)

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:May be authorized.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: F04331

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Notification:

• This position is in the Excepted Service.
• This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
• Selectee may be required to work at any VA Maine Healthcare System campus, as needed.
• May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion.
• The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

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.
• May be subject to satisfactory completion of our credentialing process.
• 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:

a. United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.g,.)

b. Education (1) 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology). OR

(2) 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. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards. OR

(3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. AND

c. Internships: (a) 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

(b) 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

(c) VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR

(d) 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.) OR

(e) 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.

d. 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.

e. Board Certification. Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education.

f. Loss of Credential. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists.

g. 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.

Grade Determinations:

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

GS-14 Psychology Program Manager: Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.

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

1. Ability