Veterans Health Administration Logo
Position Title
Staff Psychologist-Neuropsychologist
Agency
Veterans Health Administration
Announcement Number
CBSY-12685021-25-GPA Opens in new window
Open Period
Thursday, February 20, 2025 to Tuesday, May 20, 2025
For preview purposes only. To apply, please return to the USAJOBS announcement and click the Apply button.
Eligibilities
1. Are you currently employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs?
This includes: Career/Career Conditional or Excepted Service (i.e. Canteen, Hybrid, Title 38, etc. and meets interchange agreement requirements). This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50).  Your SF-50 must include enough information to be able to determine that time-in-grade requirements have been met (if applicable) and include your position title, pay plan/series/grade, tenure and the type of appointment (i.e. Competitive or Excepted).  Please be aware that award SF-50's do not always include this pertinent information.
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2. Are you an employee of the facility indicated for this position?
This includes: Career/Career Conditional or Excepted Service (i.e. Canteen, Hybrid, Title 38, etc. and meets interchange agreement requirements). This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50).  Your SF-50 must include enough information to be able to determine that time-in-grade requirements have been met (if applicable) and include your position title, pay plan/series/grade, tenure and the type of appointment (i.e. Competitive or Excepted).  Please be aware that award SF-50's do not always include this pertinent information.
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Preferences
1. Which of the following items describes your current or recent (within the last five years) political appointee service?

If you responded yes to any of the items below, you will need to include a SF-50 specifying your prior service.
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By submitting your application, you are certifying, to the best of your knowledge and belief, all the information submitted by you with your application for employment is true, complete, and made in good faith, and that you have truthfully and accurately represented your work experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and education (degrees, accomplishments, etc.). The information you provide as part of your application may be investigated. You are also certifying, and acknowledging, that misrepresenting your experience or education, or providing false or fraudulent information in, or with your application, may affect your eligibility for appointment and/or continued employment. False or fraudulent statements may be punishable by fine or imprisonment (18 U.S.C. 1001). (limit characters)
2. Applicants are required to undergo and successfully pass a pre-employment drug screening test and must submit to random drug testing after employment. Will you comply with this requirement? (limit characters)
3. 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. Are you proficient in basic written and spoken English? (limit characters)
If you are basing your qualifications on education (or a combination of education and experience) or if the position requires a college education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts with your application. (limit characters)
4. Resume Reminder - Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:
  • Name and Contact Information
  • Job title
  • Duties (be as detailed as possible)
  • Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2019 to April 2021)
  • Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week if part-time)
  • Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held.
Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

Do you confirm that the above information is clearly stated for each work entry you are claiming experience for, and that each entry is full time unless otherwise annotated with part-time hours?
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If applying as an internal or status candidate with current or former Federal Service, you must provide a copy of your most recent non-award SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action", showing the highest grade or promotion potential held, dated within the last year.
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All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in your application may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA to demonstrate how you have gained each one in your application package or on a supplemental document. Please see the announcement for KSA requirements.
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Assessment 1
Basic Requirements for the position of Psychologist GS-180 (limit characters)
Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s). (limit characters)
1. English Language Proficiency Requirement: Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.

Are you proficient in spoken and written English?
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2. Education Requirement - You must 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 completed a respecialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the respecialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

Do you meet the education requirement as described above?
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3. Internship Requirement - You must 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). NOTE: 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.

Do you meet one of the internship requirements as described above?
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4. Licensure: Candidates must 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 (a)(1)(D) 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.

Do you meet the licensure requirement as described above? If you currently have a license, you must submit a copy with your application.
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Minimum Requirement for GS-12 Level (limit characters)
Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s). (limit characters)
5. Experience - In addition to meeting all the basic requirements listed above you must have at least 1 full year of experience as a professional psychologist at the GS-11 level, and be able to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the position.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities - In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
5. 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.

Do you possess at least one year of creditable experience at the next lower grade level (GS-11), AND can demonstrate ALL the KSAs requirements described above? 

NOTE: Your description of your educational/work experiences in your résumé MUST SUPPORT a positive response to this question.
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Minimum Requirement for GS-13 Level (limit characters)
Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s). (limit characters)
6.
Experience - In additional to meeting the basic requirements, you must also have at least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist that was obtained through employment as a psychologist or through participating in a supervised post-doctoral psychology training program that demonstrates
1) active professional practice that was paid/non-paid employment
and/or
2) a full, current and unrestricted license. At least one year of this experience must be equivalent to the GS-12 level in Federal service, and the experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics associated with current psychology practice outlined in the questions that follow.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities - In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Do you possess at least one year of creditable experience at the next lower grade level (GS-11), AND can demonstrate ALL the KSAs requirements described above? 

NOTE: Your description of your educational/work experiences in your résumé MUST SUPPORT a positive response to this question.
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