Program Specialist - Research Compliance Officer

The Program Specialist, whose working title is Research Compliance Officer (RCO), is organizationally located in the Lebanon Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Office of the Director. The position reports directly to the Medical Center Director and works jointly with the Chief of Staff (COS), the Associate COS/Research, the Administrative Officer for Research, all research programs (including clinical and academic programs that have a research component), and research committees.

**Qualifications:**
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/17/2026. 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: 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: Developing policies, procedures, and criteria for the administration of research programs; implementing data collection and auditing protocols for complex clinical studies; reporting and analyzing research compliance oversight matters; participating on various committees related to research compliance; and utilizing knowledge of Human Subjects Protection principles, regulations, standards, and procedures. 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. Preferred Experience: Experience in a medical research department. Experience with rules and regulations of medical research programs. Experience on advising medical research workers on compliance with rules, regulations and laws. Physical Requirements: Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items, such as papers, books, or records; or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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/.