Clarification from the agency

Only open to current, permanent employees of the Salisbury VA Medical Center.

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• Operates autonomously and adjusts facility ionizing radiation programming changes in response to the clinical/non-clinical needs of the facility
• Autonomously approves radiation use permits (within the scope of the facility radioactive materials license, amends permits, and authorizes new radiation workers and new rooms for radiation treatment without prior approval by the Radiation Safety Committee (RSC)
• Reports decisions made to the RSC in regularly scheduled committee meetings
• Develops new local policies and guidelines and presents those changes to the Chief of Staff and the RSC
• While the Chief of Staff will provide concurrence on all policy changes, the RSO/RPM will be held responsible for implementing all policy changes, as they apply to use of radioactive materials
• Maintains responsibility for interpreting, developing, and enforcing local policy, providing related radiation safety training and enforcing applicable federal regulations
• Adapts Medical Health Care System policies and procedures in order to maintain compliance with changing Federal regulations and accreditation agency mandates
• Writes radioactive materials license applications and permit amendments
• Initiates and completes incident reports and takes corrective actions, as required
• Serves as an IRB reviewer, calculating patient radiation exposures for the IRB risk statement
• Monitors the performance of radiation safety staff and clinical staff designated to support the radiation safety mission
• Brings to the attention of the Chief of Staff and Medical Health Care System Director major radiation safety issues when identified and reports all local issues to the Radiation Safety Committee
• Assigns radiation safety duties as collateral duties to staff members within various clinical and research Services
• Advises senior health and medical physicists on the most unusual, complex and critical problems identified during their review of experimental procedures and during emergency responses involving radioactive materials and/or other radiation sources
• Plays a lead role in policy development for the organization's radiation safety program, and provides technical assistance/feedback to other groups outside of the organization
• Ensures compliance amongst various Federal (i.e. NRC, FDA, DOT, and EPA) regulations, as defined within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), as well as by various internal regulators and external accreditation agencies
• Ensures that there are no deviations in proposed radiative material treatments performed on patients and serves as a part of the Medical Health Care System's quality control process/efforts
• Oversees and monitors nuclear waste handling and disposal (i.e. either by onsite decay, offsite burial, or offsite reprocessing)
• Oversees the receipt/shipment of radioactive materials
• Resolves complex and unusual radiation safety problems and leads initiatives designed to reduce patient radiation exposures
• Reports to Federal agencies on the misadministration of radioactive materials and/or on treatment errors and reports on corrective actions back to the relevant clinical service
• Develops parameters for new research protocols and implements and monitors the new parameters (the researcher develops these protocols in collaboration with the RSO)
• Monitors the Medical Health Care System for accidents involving radiation exposures (either to patients or to radiation workers) and/or radioactive contamination
• Applies the appropriate protocols and conducts background safety studies and/or post-incident action reports
• Oversees the performance of comprehensive radiation safety surveys for all x-ray producing devices at the Medical Health Care System in order to meet the requirements mandated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA}, Joint Commission (JC), National Health Physics Program (NHPP), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and other regulatory agencies
• Coordinates annual evaluations of existing equipment and provides oversight and guidance to the personnel carrying out quality assurance testing
• Provides oversight and guidance to all Services regarding the safe and appropriate application of radioactive materials
• Develops and provides training to new radiation workers, non-radiation workers, authorized users (i.e. clinicians), and the general public, which includes professional and ancillary personnel who supervise or perform duties involving the use of ionizing radiation
• Develops basic radiation safety training for other staff members throughout the Medical Health Care System
• Administers examinations to those deemed as authorized radiation workers
• Establishes local radiation detection standards and trains VA staff and contractors on appropriate radiation detection equipment usage/calibration
• Performs other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday,8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: AD/HOC
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degrees in natural science or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus.

or

Combination of education and experience -- at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus, plus appropriate experience or other education; or certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to that described above.


To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/28/2022.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Specialized Experience:

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

Knowledge of Nuclear Regulatory Commission and VA National Health Physics Program requirements sufficient to perform radiation safety officer duties as defined in 1 OCFR Part 35 and NUREG 1556, volume 7, 9, and 11, as defined. Knowledge of effective regulatory correspondence sufficient to write and amend radioactive materials permits and to work with regulatory bodies. Knowledge of and skill in developing new approaches, establishing new parameters, and inspecting new radiation producing equipment (x-ray or radioactive materials) and environments. Knowledge of and skill in performing radiation safety inspections and audits of records and documents that principal investigators and authorized users hold sufficient to determine compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local regulations. Ability to respond to emergency situations involving the accidental release of or exposure to ionizing radiation. Ability to and skill in communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, sufficient to relay complex program issues and disputed recommendations in a variety of settings to the Medical Health Care System's Director and to members of the executive leadership, and to effectively negotiate solutions. Ability to develop purchase order requests for nuclear imaging equipment, radioactivity equipment, imaging equipment, and diagnostic radiation detectors and to serve as an advisor to clinical services, as needed. Ability to develop and manage a comprehensive radiation quality management program that monitors, evaluates, and optimizes radiopharmaceutical therapy, research radiation, and radioactivity measurement processes.

Physical Requirements: The work of this position requires, on a regular and recurring basis, prolonged periods of physical exertion, such as long periods of standing and/or walking when performing audits/inspections. The work also requires recurring (once every two weeks) bending and the lifting of heavy items weighing in excess of 45 pounds. The heaviest items to be moved include drums of radioactive waste which can weigh up to 250 pounds. Such items would be moved with mechanical assistance.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications .

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.