Program Specialist

This position is located within the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) & its Complex Exposure Threats Center of Excellence (CETCE). WRIISC/CETCE is a national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) program that conducts clinical care, research, education, and exposure related health evaluations for Veterans with complex or emerging exposure threats, including anomalous health incidents (AHI), explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) exposures, chemical warfare agent (CWA) exposures. EDUCATION: There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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/ .

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans? RESPONSIBILITIES: Duties to include but not limited to:

Manages pre-award processes for WRIISC/CETCE proposals in accordance with ORD and sponsor requirements, overseeing tasks such as Letters of Intent, eligibility verification, administrative components, compliance attachments, and considerations related to human subjects, animal subjects when applicable, biohazards, data security, and budget development

Coordinates internal review processes to ensure timely and compliant submission to VACO/ORD, Grants.gov, NIH eRA Commons, DoW, and other sponsor platforms. It also develops templates, checklists, and internal SOPs to standardize grant submissions consistent with PD construction best practices and supports applications for VA ORD mechanisms (BLR&D, CSR&D, HSR&D, RR&D, CDAs) as well as extramural programs such as NIH, academic partners, and foundations.

Serves as a liaison for Justin Time (JIT) submissions and ensures complete regulatory packages, including IRB, IACUC, SRS, and R&DC components, consistent with sponsor and VHA policies. Responsibilities include tracking expenditures, ensuring allowability and compliance with sponsor guidance, coordinating fiscal actions with VA affiliated nonprofits, and supporting financial reporting

Monitors deliverables, progress reports, publication reporting, cohort data submissions, and required public access or data sharing obligations

Provides analytical, administrative, and planning support for WRIISC/CETCE exposure cohort programs, including AHI, EOD, CWA, Qarmat Ali, and additional complex deployment exposure groups

Assists with extracting, tracking, and summarizing cohort specific data to support surveillance, protocol development, longitudinal monitoring, and cross agency communication

Coordinates scientific meetings, data reviews, and communication efforts related to interagency panels and partners such as DoW, DHA, and VET HOME

Provides guidance and technical assistance to investigators on grant preparation, compliance, timelines, and strategic alignment with WRIISC/CETCE research priorities

Develops educational materials, presentations, and quick guides supporting research operations in a manner consistent with PD template expectations. Additionally, the role trains new investigators and research develops educational materials, presentations, and quick guides supporting research operations in a manner consistent with PD template expectations. Additionally, the role trains new investigators and research

Maintains research grant databases, dashboards, and archival systems to ensure accuracy, audit readiness, and alignment with VHA privacy and security policies

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm EST

Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized

Telework: Not Authorized

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/ PD260143

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

QUALIFICATIONS: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/16/2026.

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-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:

GS-12 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: Experience applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or functions related to office administration in order to review current procedures and to provide advice to management for improvements; quantitative and qualitative methods and principles to assess and improve on program effectiveness in order to provide advisory services. Coordinates critical sensitive activities and manages special and confidential assignments that are necessary to help support senior leadership.

Preferred Experience: 5 years experience with federal grants management, COR-level contracting authority applied to national VA exposure research programs. Experience with pre- and post-award administration, regulatory compliance, and multi-site coordination, with ability to develop integrated VA and outside data systems that translate complex exposure data into clinical and research outputs. Proven ability to interpret funding announcements (e.g., VA ORD, NIH) and lead compliant, on-time grant submissions while maintaining full audit readiness and alignment with federal research and privacy requirements.

Best qualified applicants will meet the following criteria in addition to the minimum qualifications for this position.

The best-qualified candidates will demonstrate advanced experience with Federal pre- and post-award grants management, including interpreting RFAs, navigating sponsor systems, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

They will show strong ability to analyze, track, and summarize complex exposure cohort data, supporting surveillance, longitudinal monitoring, and interagency collaboration.

They will exhibit proven skill in producing high-quality analytical reports, briefings, and scientific meeting materials for leadership and cross-agency partners.

They will have demonstrated capability to train investigators and staff on submission systems, troubleshoot errors, and develop educational materials that support research operations.

They will possess advanced proficiency with data systems, documentation platforms, and secure information handling, ensuring accuracy, audit readiness, and compliance with VA privacy and security standards.

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/ . SALARY: QuantitativeValue EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Other