Health Science Specialist

Veterans Health Administration • Albuquerque, NM

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Health Science Specialist serves as the Multi-Drug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Prevention Coordinator and Infection Preventionist, providing expert guidance and leadership in infection prevention and control. The role develops, implements, and evaluates strategies to prevent MDRO transmission, ensures compliance with regulatory standards, and promotes a safe environment for patients and staff.

The specialist applies current scientific literature, public health knowledge, epidemiological principles, and statistical methods to identify populations at risk, conduct surveillance and investigations, analyze infection trends, and design and evaluate prevention and control strategies. The role contributes to the organization’s surveillance plan and develops guidelines to track and predict nosocomial infections.

The specialist discusses laboratory findings and infection-control measures with medical center committees and teams, serves as an educational resource, reviews and recommends cleaning and disinfection products, and liaises with public health officials regarding reportable communicable diseases and other significant findings. The role also addresses ethical issues, collaborates with supporting services and the Infection Prevention and Control team, and applies research findings to improve MDRO prevention and patient care.

The position is onsite, with a Monday-to-Friday schedule from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The work has no inherent physical requirements that cannot otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship.
• A bachelor’s or graduate/higher-level degree with a major in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences, or allied sciences appropriate to the work; the degree must be from a program accredited by a body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education when the degree was obtained.
• One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-11 in the normal line of progression, including experience such as conducting surveillance, analyzing infection data, developing and implementing prevention strategies, ensuring regulatory compliance, educating staff, coordinating outbreak investigations, and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to improve patient safety and quality of care.
• Current federal employees and certain former federal employees applying for a GS-12 position must meet the time-in-grade requirement of 52 weeks at GS-11 and submit supporting SF-50 documentation.
• Complete the application, questionnaire, and required online assessment.
• Complete required background/security investigation and online onboarding.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as a Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel.
• Serve a one-year probationary period or two-year trial period, as applicable.

Nice To Haves

• Three years of specialized experience.
• Certification in Infection Control (CIC).

Responsibilities

• Review, analyze, and apply current scientific literature and publications, incorporating relevant public health issues into practice.
• Identify populations at high risk for infection and assess patient requirements relative to age-specific needs using principles of human growth and development.
• Apply epidemiological principles and statistical methods, including risk stratification, to identify target populations, analyze trends and risk factors, and design and evaluate prevention and control strategies.
• Conduct infection surveillance and investigations; use appropriate statistical techniques to describe data, calculate rates, and evaluate the significance of findings.
• Participate in developing the organization’s surveillance plan based on populations served, services provided, and available prior surveillance data.
• Develop and implement surveillance guidelines to track and predict the occurrence of nosocomial infections.
• Meet with medical center committees and teams to discuss laboratory findings, their clinical significance, infection prevention and control measures, and team concerns.
• Serve as an educational resource and provide expert guidance on infection prevention, control, and health care epidemiology.
• Review and recommend products for cleaning and disinfecting equipment and environmental surfaces.
• Liaise with public health officials regarding reportable communicable diseases and other epidemiologically significant findings.
• Collaborate continuously with the Infection Prevention and Control team in program activities.
• Provide leadership in identifying and addressing ethical issues affecting clients and staff; initiate and participate in ethics consultations while maintaining confidentiality and practicing in a nonjudgmental, nondiscriminatory manner with sensitivity to diversity.
• Coordinate problem solving with supporting services outside the responsible area and support the APIC, the epidemiology code of ethics, and hospital medical ethics policy.
• Collaborate in research activities and apply relevant research findings to MDRO infection prevention and control practice.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package, with benefits for employees and their families; specific benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.
• Potential credit for job-related non-federal experience or active-duty uniformed military service when determining annual leave accrual, subject to request and approval before appointment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level