Summary This position is located in the Mental Health Service whose mission is to provide quality comprehensive mental health care to patients and quality training to interns, fellows, students and residents. The incumbent will assist Mental Health Service staff in the administration and scoring of psychological tests that serve to assess various aspects of personality, intelligence, and adaptive functions. Responsibilities Duties include but are not limited to: Responsible for collection, tabulation, and maintenance of a database of psychological and neuropsychological tests. In the Neuropsychology Program the incumbent maybe responsible for research activities in addition to the routine clinical evaluation procedures. Must be able to demonstrate knowledge of psychologically relevant domains such as biological bases of behavior, abnormal psychology, research design, and neurosciences. Experience with utilizing statistical techniques and statistical analysis software. Administer and score psychometric tests to patients and familiarize others with such tests as needed. Facilitates scheduling by completing patient reminder and confirmation calls. Organizes and assists with intervention groups as needed, including telephone follow-up with patients for outcome survey purposes. Timely preparation of test data summaries for psychological and neuropsychological patient evaluations under the supervision of a psychologist. Completes clinical reminders on patients and documents detailed behavioral observations. Oversees daily activities of the clinic and facilitates flow of care for all providers. Follows applicable regulations and instructions regarding access to computerized files, release of access codes, etc., as set out in the computer access agreement that the employee signs. Responsible for the inventory and ordering of test materials and supplies. Participates in Environment of Care rounding and reports. Maintains clinical records and documentation, ensuring regulatory compliance. Complies with all safety/fire prevention rules/regulations, using protective equipment when required and provided. Meets the needs of customers while supporting the Medical Center and Service missions. The incumbent performs other directly related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PD0567 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period 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 probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/30/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Basic Requirements: Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for the GS 0181 occupational series. Education: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study in Psychology or related subject or at least 24 semester hours in Psychology. (Transcripts required). In addition to meeting the basic requirements one of the following minimum requirement criteria must be met to be qualified for this position. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: administering and scoring a wide variety of psychological and neuropsychological tests in a standardized manner, with sensitivity to individual patient characteristics; managing conflict and problems in dealing with the patients and family members constructively and appropriately; performing research and outcome studies using the clinical research database; interviewing patients or research subjects, obtaining relevant information in a standardized format. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. (Transcripts required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond. o calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-09. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. (Transcripts required). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communication Interpersonal Effectiveness Psychology 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: Include walking, standing, bending, reaching, light lifting, assisting patients to and from testing room and section waiting area (Le., pushing wheelchairs) and carrying light items such as books and papers. 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 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 for 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. 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. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
