Psychology Program Manager (Training Director)

This posting establishes an open continuous announcement of eligible applicants to be considered for this position.

The first list of eligible applicants will be those received by April 14, 2020.

Applications received after April 14th 2020 may be considered in subsequent referral(s) if a vacancy remains and/or until the position is filled.

This announcement may close earlier than the identified closing date if filled prior to the closing date.

The Psychology Training Director for the internship and fellowship programs within the Mental Health Service Line at the North-FL / South-GA Veterans Healthcare System serves as the program manager for Psychology Training Program, which includes doctoral internship, postdoctoral residency, and doctoral student practicum placements.

We are seeking applicants with strong clinical background and training expertise who would be interested in leading the psychology training program and collaborating with allied health profession training directors in multidisciplinary training efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities: Directly manages all administrative aspects of the postdoctoral training program, doctoral internship, and doctoral student practicum programs.

This includes day-to-day management of these programs (e.g., leadership, organization, program development, administration, accreditation, and management of all aspects of the program).

Manages the application and selection processes, evaluation processes, accreditation processes, management of grievances, and any other processes needed to support the day-to-day operations of the psychology training program.

Develops, implements, and updates all policies and procedures for the programs, develops a Training Plan with each intern and postdoctoral resident prior to the beginning of their training year and updates this throughout the year.

Addresses grievances or other employment/training issues with trainees, makes sure evaluations are completed appropriately.

Oversees the quality and quantity of training, develops program initiatives, obtains necessary resources, and engages in regular program review.

Engages in program improvement by considering continuous input from multiple stakeholders, including CoA, OAA, the NFSGHCS ACOS for Education, Mental Health administration, training staff, and current and former trainees, and utilizes this information to evaluate and improve the quality of the program, monitors program outcomes using data-driven processes.

Develops, plans, organizes, and manages resources for all aspects of the Psychology Training Program.

Serves as Chair of the Executive Training Committee which has oversight of all the Psychology training programs.

Sets the agenda for training committee meetings, conducts the meetings, documents the actions of the Committee, and prepares and distributes the minutes.

The incumbent is also responsible for communicating and addressing any changes in accreditation, licensure, or other federal, national, regional, or local training requirements with the Executive Training Committee, and communicating any procedural or policy changes with all training staff.

Prepares and annually updates the Psychology Training Program Internship and Residency Handbook, which includes all policies, procedures, and forms for the internship program.

Establishes and oversees the internship and residency training curriculum (i.e., developing the seminar syllabi, teaching, recruiting outside presenters, and evaluating seminar feedback), which includes required clinical rotation and programmatic experiences, ensures that seminars support the profession-wide competencies and complement clinical training experiences.

A portion of the training directors time will be spent in direct patient care, which may include psychological and psycho-diagnostic assessment, group therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, treatment planning, and consultation.

Reports directly to the Chief Psychologist (Chief of Psychology) and Assistant Chief of Psychology when the Chief Psychologist is not available.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00 am
– 4:30 pm Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Relocation incentive may be approved for a highly qualified current Federal candidate who must relocate.

Recruitment incentive may be approved for a highly qualified non-current Federal candidate.

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required You must be a U.S.

Citizen to apply for this job Designated and/or random drug testing may be required Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to a background/security investigation Must be proficient in written and spoken English Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Qualifications Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

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.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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.

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 bodys requirement for continuing education.

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

AND (4) 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 (pre-1979) 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 candidates doctoral program.

If the internship experience is not noted on the applicants 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.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation).

Preferred Experience: Applicants must possess good time management skills, good communication and negotiation skills to balance workload demands.

NF/SG VHS has implemented a completely computerized medical record.

Applicants should be familiar with and able to use a personal computer.

Applicants should be proficient in writing psychological reports, chart notes, and treatment summaries.

Applicants should be able to prioritize their work appropriately and should seek consultation as needed to deal with difficult cases.

Applicants need excellent customer service skills and are expected to interact effectively with Veterans, Veteran family members, and coworkers.

Psychologists should be able to remain positive even during times of high levels of stress, and should be able to work collegially with all other professions.

Psychologists are required to work effectively with individuals who have opinions and/or attitudes that differ from their own.

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

AND In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines.

Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.

Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds, interests, and points of view.

Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.

Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.

Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.

Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/103 FEBRUARY 7, 2018 PART II APPENDIX G18