Epidemiologist

Summary The position serves as an Epidemiologist within the Public Health National Program Office (PHNPO).

PHNPO is responsible for improving the health of Veterans through professionally developed policies and programs relating to nationwide public health surveillance, prevention, intervention or treatment, and research.

Responsibilities This announcement will close on 08/15/2024. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be July 31, 2024. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred after the closing date. Pay may be set at a rate/step Above the Minimum Entrance Rate (AMER) for applicants with superior qualifications.

Credit toward annual leave accrual:
Please refer to "Additional Information"
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Parental

Leave:
Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child

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)

Major duties include, but not limited to:

Epidemiological Consultation and Research Analyze and evaluate human healthcare and environmental data sets for emerging infections and known human pathogens.

Serves as a consultant/advisor for VHA Program Offices in the fields of epidemiology, infection prevention, public health surveillance, and antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship.

Monitor and provide ongoing situational awareness to VHA leadership and clinical health providers of national infectious disease trends such as influenza, Covid-19, emerging and re-emerging pathogens, as well as non-infectious conditions of public health concern.

Provide technical expertise in analyzing disease exposure incidents among VHA patients using qualitative and quantitative methodologies appropriate to analyze human healthcare data.

Consult with VHA patient care staff who are involved in providing healthcare to Veterans when conducting findings of operational investigations and surveillance activities.

Evaluate the efficacy of programs related to the public healthcare needs of Veterans.

Lead in the design, implementation, and analysis of collaborative studies with other program offices and non-VA academic and federal agency partners.

Implements programmatic, research, and operational initiatives related to infections and conditions of public health importance.

Special Projects:

Work collaboratively on human healthcare projects with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or other US government agencies and/or state and local health departments.

Conduct and participate in studies and reviews of interest to the Agency's strategic priorities. Develop project plans, teams, agendas, and timelines for successful completion.

Prepare reports findings and conclusions clearly and concisely either in written or oral form to VHA leadership and any other key stakeholders.

Lead scientific investigations and conduct scientific research on public health and epidemiologic issues.

Prepare scientific articles for publication in national and international peer-reviewed journals, and present findings before a national/international conference and to other health officials within VHA, other federal agencies, and health organizations.

Compliance:

Assesses compliance with accreditation requirements and other program review criteria that govern service and ensures that requirements are in place and functioning properly, as evidenced by both internal and external reviews.

Demonstrates participation and knowledge in the facility's Compliance and Business Integrity Program and works to prevent violations of the law as well as maintains high ethical standards.

Work Schedule:
Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Telework:

Not Available Virtual:
This is not a virtual position

Position Description/PD#:

Epidemiologist/PD976460 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives:
Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS):

Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report:
Not required 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 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/15/2024. 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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): The 0601 Occupational series has an IOR that must be met: Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position.

This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. In addition to the IOR, candidates must also meet the following specialized experience for the Epidemiologist GS-15 grade level.

Specialized Experience:

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
Experience in public health surveillance for emerging and re-emerging pathogens, as well as non-infectious conditions. Experience in conducting epidemiologic and/or outbreak investigations (particularly infectious diseases). Experience in using complex statistical methods for qualitative and quantitative analyses of human healthcare data. Experience in the interpretation of complex pathogen diagnostic testing and genomic analyses.

Experience and/or familiarity with public health policy and principles in infection control, infectious diseases, non-infectious conditions, climate change, pandemic preparedness, and biodefense.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

Analytical Reasoning Compliance Inspection Decision Making Research 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:
Work is primarily sedentary, requiring no special physical demands.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at 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:
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:
Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or 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.

VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.

Special Employment Consideration:
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy.

To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job.

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions.

Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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.

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