Research Health Science Specialist

About the role

This position serves as a Without Compensation Research Health Science Specialist within the Seattle VA Office of Research & Development (ORD). There is no pay associated with this position.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement (11/04/2026). You may qualify based on experience and/or education as described below:

General Experience

• Analyze problems to identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions
• Plan and organize work
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing

Education

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree with major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences, or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position.

Combination

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the basic requirements.

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, religious, 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.

Physical Requirements

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/.

Responsibilities

• Conduct bench tests of prosthetic devices using commercial and custom materials testing instruments. Work may include designing and fabricating fixtures using typical machine shop tools, operating commercial testing instruments, calibrating sensors, interfacing electronics with data acquisition instruments, and performing test procedures.
• Conduct human subjects research involving custom and clinical standard of care prosthetic devices. Work may include operating gait laboratory instruments and performing test protocols.
• Collect, process, and assist in interpretation of study data. Work may include developing custom software, verification of research data, visualization of data, and presentation of results.
• Participate in study dissemination efforts (e.g., conference abstracts, peer reviewed manuscripts for journal submissions).

Schedule

Full-time (Without Compensation)