Psychology Technician

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open only to Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligible, current permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees, Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), current permanent Federal employees of other agencies, current and former employees of a Federal land management agency, and Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) eligible.

The Primary Purpose of the Position is referred to organizationally as the neuropsychology psychometrician/psychology technician. The incumbent of this position will provide: (1) administration and scoring of a wide range of specialized individually-administered neuropsychological and psychological tests to outpatients to help determine neurocognitive and psychiatric status; (2) documentation of accurate behavioral observations during testing which summarize patient contact; (3) administrative activities related to Neuropsychology Consult Team operations, training, and research. The incumbent is responsible for the accuracy and validity of all obtained test results and interacts with veterans with a wide variety of complex medical, neurological, and psychiatric presentations. The work of the incumbent is critical for the delivery of efficient and quality patient care alongside education and research activities within Neuropsychology and Mental Health Service.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical Services

• Provides services to patients with complex conditions, including:
  • Severe neurological disorders (e.g., traumatic brain injury, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, Huntington's, seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, stroke, aphasia)
  • Multiple medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension)
  • Severe mental health conditions (e.g., bipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, other related diagnoses)
• Independently administers and scores neuropsychological assessments, including screening tools and comprehensive batteries of intelligence, attention, memory, language, visuospatial/constructional skills, and executive functions
• Administers and scores emotional status, psychopathology, and personality measures for providers within and outside the Neuropsychology Consult team
• Operates specialized equipment and computers for data entry, scoring, and analysis related to program evaluation and research
• Communicates rationale for testing procedures to patients and/or significant others
• Establishes effective rapport with patients using evidence-based motivational interviewing techniques and provides a non-threatening environment for optimal testing
• Communicates sensitively and adapts assessment procedures for patients with disabilities, ensuring appropriate accommodations
• Documents and provides both verbal and written observations of patient behavior during testing, noting atypical habits or relevant features
• Completes timely and accurate documentation in the medical record following Mental Health Service policy
• Presents patient data in an organized, legible format, including tabular or graphic displays when needed

Program Operation, Training, and Research

• Oversees Neuropsychology caseload organization and referral scheduling to ensure timely assessments and prioritize urgent cases
• Maintains patient data file security according to VA regulations
• Manages inventory and purchasing of assessment materials for the Mental Health Service
• Tracks loaned test equipment and patient files, ensuring their timely return and authorized release
• Participates in quality assurance and improvement activities within Neuropsychology Clinic, Mental Health Service, and VA Medical Center
• Acts as point of contact for patient scheduling, transportation, and accommodation requests for the Neuropsychology Consult Team
• Assists in training psychology students, interns, fellows, and research technicians in proper assessment procedures and Mental Health policies
• Implements research protocols, including obtaining informed consent, data collection, documentation, and entry into databases
• Maintains integrity of research database in compliance with VA procedures

Additional Duties

• Supports and adheres to all safety and fire prevention practices, promptly reporting incidents and unsafe conditions to clinical supervisor per policy
• Reports accidents and notifies supervisor of unsafe or unhealthful workplace conditions
• Adheres to professional and ethical standards outlined in medical center policy and APA Code of Ethics
• Ensures protection of print and electronic files per laws and regulations
• Attends required training sessions and participates in facility/service safety promotions as directed
• Performs other related duties appropriate to grade and assignment

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PDHA549-01198-A and PD01198A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/29/2026.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT & will remain open until December 28, 2026, or until all positions are filled. The first cut-off date is October 13, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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.

Basic Requirement: The following are basic requirements for appointment as a Psychology Technician in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met.

Individual Occupational Requirements

Experience that involved the observation of and assistance in the application of techniques relating to behavior, capacities, traits, interests, and activities of either humans or, under laboratory conditions, animals. Experience may have been gained in connection with a program of research or direct services in psychology that gave a practical understanding of some of the principles, methods, and techniques of psychology needed to assist professional psychologists.
OR
Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of subjects such as psychology, statistics, or other directly related subjects. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

In addition to meeting the individual occupational requirements one of the following minimum requirement criteria must be met to be qualified for this position.

A. Superior Academic Achievement is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

1. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.
2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.)-- Applicants must have a grade-point average of:

   Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9.

   1. 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or
   2. 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. OR

B. You must have 1 year of graduate-level education in a related social or biological science, and your coursework must include at least 24 semester hours in psychology. An academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study. This determination is made based on normal course loads for a full year of study in the graduate program. 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.
OR
Experience, do you have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level that has equipped you with particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled? Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: (1) assisting in research as in systematic collection of psychology research data, recording and collecting of data, preparing tabular or graphic presentation of data, in accordance with a predetermined research plan; (2) assisting counseling psychologist in contacting potential employers for purpose of making vocational placement, providing follow-up consultation, administering and scoring of interest, achievement and aptitude tests, securing work history and other relevant vocational information; (3) assisting neuropsychologist in administering and scoring of selected tests of a neuropsychology battery in accordance with clearly defined procedures; (4) assisting psychologists in completing behavior rating scales or in conducting behavior modification.
OR
Combination of experience/education. You may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education to qualify at GS-07 PSYCHOLOGY TECHNICIAN (To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.)

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: Applicants must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing, or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment will not automatically disqualify an applicant for appointment. The loss or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid. Reasonable accommodation may also be considered in determining an applicant's ability to perform the duties of a position. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to: the use of assistive devices, job modification or restructuring, provision of readers and interpreters, or adjusted work schedules.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.
You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Cognitive and psychological test administration
• Psychology
• Database Management System
• Administrative responsibility
• Teaching Others

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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