Operational Psychologist

Valor Healthcare, Inc.•Fort Bragg, NC

About The Position

The Operational Psychologist provides comprehensive psychological and human performance support to Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel to enhance mission readiness, resilience, and performance in high-stress operational environments. The role includes psychological assessment and personnel selection, behavioral health support and crisis intervention, consultation with military leadership, and evidence-based training in mental skills, stress management, leadership development, cognitive performance, and resilience. The position also supports neuropsychological screening, research, program development, and performance-enhancement initiatives to improve individual and team effectiveness. The position provides technical expertise, consultation, and direct support in personnel assessment and selection, operational support, individual, team, and organizational assessment, performance enhancement, executive coaching, leadership development, research, advanced training, and psychological services. It includes conducting and interpreting psychological assessments; consulting with command personnel; managing process improvement, program validation, and research; and maintaining personnel-selection records. The psychologist also manages behavioral-health referrals, provides crisis response and follow-up after casualties or other serious incidents, and delivers professional-development and awareness education. The role trains and educates AFSPECWAR personnel in cognitive, mental, behavioral, psychosocial, perceptual, learning, adaptive-thinking, human-engagement, and emotional-control skills. Instruction may cover mental skills, energy management, attention control, effective thinking, memory, goal setting, imagery, sleep and biorhythms, team building, accelerated learning, planning and prioritization, motivation, and leader philosophy. The psychologist documents care and training using the specified military electronic health record or human-performance database and uses required computers, software, and technologies.

Requirements

Mastery of psychological assessment, behavioral health, and behavioral research.
Familiarity with organizational-effectiveness literature, operational psychology, performance enhancement and training, industrial/organizational psychology, and social and operational psychology.
Ability to conduct and interpret psychological assessments and consult with command personnel.
Ability to provide evidence-based training in performance, cognitive, mental, behavioral, and resilience skills.
Ability to use required computers, software, and technologies and document care in designated electronic systems.

Responsibilities

Provide technical expertise, consultation, and direct psychological and human-performance support in personnel assessment and selection, operational support, individual/team/organizational assessment, performance enhancement, executive coaching, leadership development, research, advanced training, and psychological services.
Conduct, administer, and interpret psychological assessment measures and consult with command personnel.
Manage process improvement, program validation, related research, and personnel-selection records and filing systems.
Conduct baseline and post-event neuropsychological screening; collect and analyze data and monitor psychological-health trends as directed.
Manage behavioral-health referrals and their disposition.
Provide professional-development and awareness education to leadership and SOF personnel as requested.
Provide crisis response and follow-up care after unit casualties or other serious incidents.
Support assessment and selection of incoming personnel and provide unit leadership feedback on suitability for military organizations or positions.
Use required computers, software, and technologies as requested by the HP Program Manager and/or Coordinator and required by AFSPECWAR and staff.
Document care in the Military Electronic Health Record (such as AHLTA or GENESIS) and/or the HP enterprise-wide database (such as SMARTABASE), as directed.
Train and educate AFSPECWAR personnel, individually and in groups, in evidence-based cognitive, mental, behavioral, psychosocial, perceptual, learning, adaptive-thinking, human-engagement, and emotional-control skills and strategies; document work performed and provided.
Provide information about mental-performance, exercise, and sports-psychology factors in sports, exercise, and physical activity.
Train and educate personnel on goal setting, performance profiling, visualization, performance development, and planning.
Provide performance- and sports-psychology instruction to develop cognitive skills for operating under high-stress, ambiguous, high-risk, chaotic, and physically demanding conditions.
Provide expertise and instruction in areas including mental-skills foundations, energy management, attention control, effective thinking, goal setting, imagery, enhanced memory, sleep and biorhythms, team building, accelerated learning, planning and prioritization, motivation, and leader philosophy.