Administrative Officer, Research Service - Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration : Job Details

Summary The position will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of a highly complex, multifaceted research program supporting both clinician and non-clinician researchers. Duties encompass administrative aspects for comprehensive support and evaluation of administrative efforts of the VA Loma Linda HCS (VALLHCS). Responsibilities The Director, Administrative Officer (AO) for Research Service is directly responsible to the Associate Chief of Staff (ACOS) for Research & Development (R&D) and through to the Chief of Staff for the oversight of the administration of the Research and Development programs at the Loma Linda VA Health Care System. Duties encompass administrative aspects for comprehensive support and evaluation of administrative efforts of the VA Loma Linda HCS (VALLHCS). The VALLHCS Research Program is a large, multifaceted investigator-initiated operation comprised of around 200 active projects funded by federal, private enterprise, non-profit, pharmaceutical sponsors, and academic sponsors. An average of 90 principal investigators, and approximately 250 individuals (VA salaried employees, WOC appointees, medical care staff, IPA's and trainees) are involved in the research, which includes biomedical laboratory, clinical, health services and rehabilitation fields. Responsibilities include, but may not be limited to the following: Ensures that the VA Research program is administered efficiently and in compliance with a variety of policies and laws. Manages a variable portfolio of funding. Ensures adequate resources are available to investigators and staff. Assists investigators and prospective investigators in their effort to carry out VA's Research mission. Improves communication within the facility, the office of R&D, the individual research programs, and the principal investigators. Effectively manages risk in the Research Program. Ensures all compliance related aspects regarding the conduct of approved research are met. Provides good customer service by being available, and supportive to investigators, and other relevant personnel within the area of responsibility. Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Advises and guides the administrative activities of multiple subordinate research teams within multiple disciplines, which requires an in-depth knowledge of general research systems, programs, and practices of the VHA, NIH and other funding entities. Ability to communicate, negotiate, and collaborate with researchers as well as those from other organizational segments to assure maximal program achievements. Develops internal monitoring end tracking systems to ensure that researchers and research staff comply with VA guidelines, regulations, policies, and procedures (as well as those of other applicable federal agencies) to protect sensitive information, including veteran's personal identifiers and health information. Reviews research proposal submissions for budgetary adequacy, compliance with agency format requirements, administrative completeness. Maintains up to date knowledge of internal VA policies as well as external to the agency policies and laws impacting the conduct of VA research. Develops and maintains systems to manage the oversight and the coordination of investigations into issues of project management which include appropriate committee reviews, research committee management, liaison with committees such the Institutional Review Boards and Institutional Animal Committee, Biosafety and Conflict of Interest. Reviews letters of intent and research proposals to ensure program relevance and conformance with published guidelines. Manages the equipment for Research Service ensuring that it is maintained in useful condition and properly assigned/ accounted for. Assigns work based on priorities taking into consideration task difficulty, requirement of assignment and capabilities. Maintains continuous liaison with the VAMC human resources office in areas of personnel recruiting, promotion, training, equal opportunity employment disciplinary action, performance evaluation, and other areas. Prepares a variety of complex, analytical reports for use by Research leadership and facility management in support of policy making and planning efforts. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Administrative Officer, Research Service/PD30923-0 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 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, 11/14/2024. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Expertise in a variety of databases and software platforms utilized in fiscal, regulatory, human resource, scientific review, and logistic (space and equipment) functions of a research program is needed to assess program effectiveness, compliance and manage complex processes associated with intramurally and extramurally funded research programs. Skills to plan, organize, and direct team study work and to negotiate effectively with management to accept and implement recommendations where the proposals involve substantial agency resources or require extensive changes in established Research & Development (R&D) procedures. Understanding the principles of personnel management including recruiting, hiring, counseling, conflict resolution; disciplinary action; motivation; and separation. Expert knowledge regarding regulations governing use of human subjects, animal subjects, radioisotopes, chemical hazards, biohazards, waste disposal and other safety matters in medical research. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Financial Management Manages and Organizes Information Managing Human Resources Oral Communication Planning and Evaluating Systems Life Cycle Technology Application 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: The work is sedentary. It occasionally requires carrying of light objects such as files, books and papers; some walking, standing and bending. No special physical qualifications are required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information 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.