Clinical Psychologist (Health Promotion and Behavior Change)

Mahalo for your interest in this role! Please see the full position description below and click Start Your Application when ready.

LAUKOA is seeking an experienced Clinical Psychologist (Health Promotion and Behavior Change) to support the Defense Health Agency's Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE), located in Silver Spring, MD. This position provides subject matter expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based health promotion, prevention, and behavior change initiatives that improve the psychological health, resilience, and readiness of Service Members, their families, and other Military Health System beneficiaries.

The successful candidate will collaborate with Government leaders, researchers, clinicians, and multidisciplinary teams to translate behavioral health research into practical strategies, programs, and educational resources that promote healthy behaviors, reduce risk factors, and improve long-term psychological health outcomes.

Essential Job Functions:

• Provide subject matter expertise supporting health promotion and behavior change initiatives across the Defense Health Agency Psychological Health Center of Excellence.
• Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based psychological health promotion programs and preventive interventions.
• Review and interpret scientific literature to identify best practices that support resilience, prevention, and psychological health.
• Develop recommendations that promote healthy behaviors and improve individual and organizational readiness.
• Collaborate with Government personnel and multidisciplinary teams to develop health promotion strategies, educational materials, and behavioral health resources.
• Assist in translating psychological and behavioral health research into practical products for clinicians, leaders, and Military Health System beneficiaries.
• Support initiatives addressing resilience, stress management, suicide prevention, traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep health, substance misuse, and other psychological health priorities.
• Participate in technical working groups, stakeholder meetings, and planning sessions supporting PHCoE initiatives.
• Prepare technical reports, briefing materials, white papers, presentations, and recommendations for Government leadership.
• Evaluate existing health promotion programs and identify opportunities to improve effectiveness using current scientific evidence.
• Support development of educational campaigns, outreach materials, and evidence-informed communication products.
• Collaborate with researchers, clinicians, analysts, communications specialists, and Government stakeholders to achieve project objectives.
• Ensure work products meet scientific, ethical, and professional standards while supporting contract requirements.

Necessary Skills and Knowledge:

• Capability to provide subject-matter expertise on the development of population wide health promotion and behavior change initiatives that promote mental health and decrease the risk of developing mental health disorders.
• Capability to develop tools and messaging pointing military community members toward evidence-based self-management techniques that promote mental wellbeing.
• Capability to assess various government services and resources promoting positive psychological functioning and identify trusted sources and best practices.
• Capability to tailor psychological health promotion and behavior change messaging to optimize impact across various communication channels.
• 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:

• Doctoral degree required. Doctorate (PhD or PsyD) in Clinical Psychology.
• At least 13 years of full-time post-doctoral work experience directly related to the practice of clinical psychology.
• At least 3 years of full-time post-doctoral work leading or providing substantial technical inputs to population level public health efforts promoting positive mental health and encouraging behavior changes to decrease risk factors for mental health disorders.
• U.S. 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 designing or evaluating health promotion and prevention programs.
• Experience supporting military behavioral health or operational psychology initiatives.
• Experience supporting resilience, suicide prevention, stress management, sleep health, or substance misuse programs.
• Experience developing educational materials, communication campaigns, or training resources.
• Experience contributing to peer-reviewed publications, scientific reports, or behavioral health guidance documents.
• Experience supporting federal healthcare, military health, or public health organizations.

Salary Range: $165,000 - $185,000

*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, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We offer a best-in-class benefits program including medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401(k) program with employer match; paid vacation and sick leave; employer-paid basic life and AD&D insurance; an Employee Assistance Program; and a flexible work environment. Additionally, employees can choose from several voluntary benefits including 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.