Psychologist

Summary This position is located in the Behavioral Health & Outreach Unit (BHO) in the Office of Health Services (OHS) and reports to the Director. BHO is responsible for providing behavioral health care for Peace Corps trainees & Volunteers, support for families, and Peace Corps overseas staff. The purpose of this position is to serve as an expert on behavioral health care as well as on Peace Corps policies and procedures which pertain to Volunteer behavioral health support. Responsibilities The Psychologist performs the following major duties: Provides highly skilled clinical care for Volunteers with difficult and complex conditions using HIPPA-compliant Zoom, phone or in-person care. Utilizes or develops assessment or measurement methodologies; and conceptualizes/develops/presents treatment plans for Volunteers. Provides assessment and/or evidence based interventions for a variety of mental health conditions and concerns ranging from routine to more complex involving sexual assault, trauma, and psychiatric conditions. Assists with the reintegration of the Volunteer at post or the evacuation of the Volunteer to a higher level of care with warm hand-offs. Coordinates direct clinical care for the Volunteer through communication within the unit and between the units and Peace Corps Medical Officers. Provides on-call clinical duty, after business hours, shared among clinical staff for clinical conditions. Also includes assessment and assistance to overseas posts/Volunteer/family/Agency in the event of a crisis i.e., natural or unnatural disaster, disappearance or death of a Volunteer. Provides technical assistance and administrative support in efforts to remove Volunteers/ trainees from troubled areas. Provides consultation to Peace Corps Medical Officers, post or Agency staff on behavioral health concerns that impact Volunteers or the capacity of staff to support them. Designs, conducts, and directs agency-wide training activities, seminars, and workshops. Develops and conducts in-depth training workshops for Peace Corps Medical Officers on communication skills, adjustment, crisis management, conflict resolution, trauma-informed care etc. Develops and/or revises training materials, training methods, training designs or aids for training purposes. Participates in and/or directs the training of peer support, para-professionals and lay personnel on well-being & mental health issues. Understands Peace Corps policies that impact PCV behavioral health and well-being. Develops technical guidelines and standard operating procedures Advises on the development of new or amendment of current policies for Volunteer behavioral health & well-being Requirements Conditions of Employment Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Applicants must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination. All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing. A one year trial period is required. This is not a bargaining unit position. This position requires a Public Trust security clearance. Peace Corps Information This is a Federal civilian job in the Excepted Service. Peace Corps employees are paid on the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. Initial appointment of employment cannot exceed five years. All new employees are required to certify and submit a state of understanding acknowledging adherence to the Peace Corps condition of employment prior to day 1 of employment with the Peace Corps. Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy. The Peace Corps is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. The Peace Corps is a drug-free workplace and promotes a drug-free environment. The Peace Corps is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture. Our goal is to attract and develop the best and brightest from all lifestyles and backgrounds. The Peace Corps strives to create a culture of inclusion where individuals feel respected and are treated fairly in all aspects of differences. Our commitment is to make a difference in the lives of people around the world. The Peace Corps provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the hiring process, please notify the Office of Human Resources by calling 202-692-1200 or the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity on 202-692-2139. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation are made on a case-by-case basis. Qualifications Specialized Experience: You must meet the specialized experience at the grade level(s) in which you choose to be considered by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 07/06/2023 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate dates of employment by month, day, and year and the number of hours worked per week in your resume. This vacancy is being announced at one grade level: FP-03 Qualifying experience for the FP-03 level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-04 or GS-12 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Experience with the full range of psychological testing; psychopathology and therapeutic techniques; Experience analyzing clinical assessments (serves to advise, consult to other clinical psychologists, psychiatrist, neurologist, nurses, social workers assistant staff etc., in their work area); Experience applying psychological principles, theories, methods, and interventions to resolve difficult and complex cases and/or situations and problems that arise in providing care and treatment to Agency trainees, Volunteers, Peace Corps overseas staff and their families. AND Basic Requirements Degree: major or equivalent in psychology for all specializations except clinical psychology and counseling psychology. These two specializations have additional educational requirements, as stated below: Clinical psychology: For positions at grades GS-11 and above, satisfactory completion of all the requirements for the doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical psychology is required. Counseling psychology: For positions at grades GS-9 and above, satisfactory completion of 2 full academic years of graduate study directly related to professional work in counseling psychology, or satisfactory completion in an accredited educational institution of all the requirements for a master's degree directly related to counseling psychology is required. Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/ All qualification requirements must be met by 07/06/2023 (the closing date of this announcement). Qualification claims will be subject to verification. Please note: Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases (e.g., the FP-09 is the lowest entry-level pay and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level pay). Education Basic Requirements Degree: major or equivalent in psychology for all specializations except clinical psychology and counseling psychology. These two specializations have additional educational requirements, as stated below: Clinical psychology: For positions at grades GS-11 and above, satisfactory completion of all the requirements for the doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical psychology is required. Counseling psychology: For positions at grades GS-9 and above, satisfactory completion of 2 full academic years of graduate study directly related to professional work in counseling psychology, or satisfactory completion in an accredited educational institution of all the requirements for a master's degree directly related to counseling psychology is required. Additional Information Intelligence Background Information Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position. This section prohibits the employment of certain persons previously engaged in intelligence activities or connected with intelligence agencies within the past 10 years. If you have ever worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), you are not eligible for employment at the Peace Corps in any capacity, and you should not apply for employment. Acceptance of employment with Peace Corps precludes employment by certain intelligence organizations for a specific period of time, determined by the employing agency, after Peace Corps employment ceases. Applicants who are found to be otherwise qualified will be required to submit upon request in the future a completed Intelligence Background Questionnaire, or narrative signed statement, indicating whether the applicant has been involved in or has had any connection with intelligence activities or related work and, if so, the nature and dates of his or her involvement. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the applicant being rated ineligible for further consideration. If you have any other type of possible intelligence connection, your application will not be further considered until you submit this form. Except when the CIA or the National Security Agency (NSA) is involved (see below), if your connection with an Intelligence Agency involves an immediate family member who works or has worked in intelligence, the immediate family member should complete the form, not the applicant. Usually relying on memory is sufficient to answer most if not all of the questions. If you have an immediate family member who works or has worked for the CIA, you should not give them this form to complete. Please contact your relative in person-not by phone, email, social networking, or any other means that is not in person- and ask him or her to contact the Office of General Counsel at the CIA. If you or an immediate family member have been employed by or associated with the NSA, you or your family member must contact the NSA Prepublication Review Office at 443-634-4095.