Research Health Science Specialist

**NOTE: This is a Without Compensation position. There is no pay associated with this position.** This position serves as a Without Compensation (WOC) Research Health Science Specialist within the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Office of Research and Development (ORD).

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/16/2026. The Individual Occupational Requirement Basic Education Requirement for this position is: Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education(external link) at the time the degree was obtained. Additionally, you must also have: Experience: Experience in how local ancestry patterns influence health and disease risk; experience managing timelines and deliverables for successful completion of projects; and guidelines and procedures. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education (above the required Bachelor's degree) and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of experience and education. 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. Physical Requirements: The work is predominantly sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there will be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of items of moderate weight such as large binders, banker style file boxes, meeting materials, papers, books or small parts. Hand and eye coordination for delicate testing procedures may be the only special physical demand required to perform the work.