Research Psychologist (Evidence Synthesis)

LAUKOA is seeking a Research Psychologist Evidence Synthesis to support the Defense Health Agency's Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE) located in Silver Spring, MD. This position provides scientific expertise in health services research, population health, behavioral health research, and program evaluation to improve the delivery of psychological health services across the Military Health System. It collaborates across the DoD, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies to develop clinical practice guidelines for psychological health conditions, substance use disorders, and suicide risk. PHCoE also produces evidence-based resources, clinical support tools, and expert-reviewed briefs to enhance patient care, operational readiness, and human performance in military settings.

Essential Job Functions

• Examines, diagnoses, treats, and follows outpatients with psychological problems of all complexities.
• Provides continuing follow-up for chronic outpatients with acute disorders and complications of these disorders.
• Provides staff expertise in psychology that is pertinent in a wide variety of circumstances, including management of patients with psychological disorders.
• Examines and conducts thorough studies of presenting patients; evaluates laboratory and clinical findings, prescribing appropriate treatment or referring patients to appropriate specialty clinics.
• Collaborates with physicians in other medical specialties on cases involving complicated and multi-faceted problems.
• Follows through on all cases to ensure effective comprehensive psychological services required.
• Provides psychological support to special areas.
• May perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned or directed by the supervisor. This may include attendance of and participation in required training for the role.

Necessary Skills and Knowledge

• Capability to provide senior-level expert recommendations on psychological health topic areas (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, suicide).
• Capability to design and conduct research investigations applying evidence synthesis techniques using existing published research (e.g., systematic reviews).
• Capability to analyze and interpret research results.
• Capability to produce technical artifacts (e.g., reports, tools, briefings, presentations, and manuscripts) consistent with the KSAs described here and with the broader PHCoE mission set.

Minimum Qualifications

• At least 13 years of full-time post-doctoral work experience directly related to the planning and execution of research in the field of psychological health.
• At least 5 years of full-time post-doctoral experience supporting psychological health research studies applying evidence synthesis and meta-analytic techniques to already published research.
• US Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation and Common Access Card (CAC).
• Occasional travel may be required in support of contract performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preference may be given to candidates with experience supporting Defense Health Agency (DHA), Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE), Military Health System (MHS), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• Experience conducting health services research within military or federal healthcare systems.
• Experience evaluating behavioral health programs and healthcare delivery models.
• Experience with healthcare utilization analyses, outcomes research, and population health initiatives.
• Experience supporting federally funded research programs.
• Experience publishing peer-reviewed scientific research.
• Experience with survey research, healthcare databases, and large population-based datasets.
• Knowledge of implementation science and healthcare quality improvement methodologies.

Salary Range

Salary Range: $140,000 - $160,000. This Position is Contingent Upon Award.

We are an Equal Opportunity/VEVRAA federal contractor. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401k program with employer match; paid vacation and sick leave; employer-paid basic life and AD&D insurance; an Employee Assistance Program; a flexible work environment; critical illness coverage; accident insurance; identity theft coverage; pet insurance; and more.

We give preference to internal candidates. If no internal candidate meets our qualifications, external candidates will be given consideration.