Clarification from the agency

The area of consideration will be referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent Facility employees 2. Current permanent Agency (Department of Veterans Affairs) employees 3. Current permanent employees of other Federal agencies Veterans' Preference: Does not apply to this announcement per OCHCO Bulletin, Annual Determination of Staffing Shortages, dated September 30, 2022.

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The position serves as resident and program engineer consisting of the planning, design, and overseeing of major healthcare system projects; oversees Professional Architecture/Engineering (A/E) and Construction contracts to ensure the contractor is in compliance with all contractual requirements, healthcare regulations and codes, specifications and schedules are met in accordance with the government's requirements for VA owned and leased facilities. Duties will include:

• Conducts capital asset and infrastructure planning and design for the medical facility spanning initial strategic planning, concept development, design, construction, and effective implementation of complex buildings, utilities, and medical support systems.
• Manages healthcare engineering project design and administers construction in accordance with VA policies and procedures, VA Design Guides, VA Design Manuals, VA Master Specifications and related industry codes and standards.
• Performs healthcare engineering project construction management and post project activities while ensuring continuity of building and utility services for medical facility operations.
• Assists in the provision of a continuing education program for clinical staff and maintenance personnel addressing the principles and application of building and utility systems in the delivery of health care. This includes a curriculum that addresses the safe and effective use of medical gases, emergency power, ventilation, and other healthcare infrastructure related technology.
• Requires skill to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, with a wide variety of individuals, including technical and professional clinical staff, to communicate technical information.
• Assists in development and implementation of the environment of care program that meets current Joint Commission, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), College of American Pathologists (CAP), NFPA, and VA requirements, particularly as it relates to construction safety and infection control.
• The position determines the requirements for healthcare projects in relation to the needs of the Healthcare System, inclusive of the parent site, as well as off-site locations under the auspice of the Healthcare System, whether VA owned or leased.
• The position evaluates how to accomplish the requirements of the project and determines the associated risks necessary to complete the construction within the healthcare facility and identify ways to mitigate project risk.
• The position is responsible for determining what temporary means and methods are necessary to be executed to reduce any risk of danger to patients or staff while a standard of medical care is met for all patients.
• The position is responsible for evaluating programs and projects to assure compliance with all environmental, safety and security standards. The position plans and designs a phased approach for the means and methods of construction activities to be executed for complex medical construction projects in order to minimize risk and impact to patients and patient care operations and the daily patient treatment procedures that cannot be impacted without severe patient hazard.
• The position provides a broad review of all disciplines of Engineering when applied to a healthcare environment to support construction document reviews and preparation.
• Work requires a broad knowledge of all Engineering disciplines, to include Architectural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Structural and Fire Protection.
• The position provides in-depth reviews on all design submissions to include healthcare code compliance and references within the documents for regulations and codes applied to healthcare.
• The position represents the healthcare system's quality assurance for project designs to be complete and meet all current applicable health care code requirements for all types of utility services, safety, security and operation.
• A working knowledge of The Joint Commission (TJC) requirements, NFPA 101 the Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code, in addition to VA design requirements is necessary to provide direction to Architectural/Engineering firms on complex healthcare designs to ensure compliance and regulatory requirements are met for the medical facility.
• The position performs evaluations on medical care programs and services to ensure assigned projects are aligned and support the healthcare organization's needs and requirements for expansion of service and/or efficient flow of operation.
• The position provides information to the Chief of the service regarding various Capital Planning needs for the facility to include information on the status of all assigned ongoing project activities.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4:30PM
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Healthcare Engineer candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. ? 7403(f).
• Education:
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be from a school with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Engineering Accreditation Commission (excludes engineering technology) or National Council of Architectural Registration Boards curriculum. Examples of acceptable engineering and architectural degrees include, but are not limited to: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Architectural Engineering. Titles may vary from educational institutions and change over time; OR
  • Evidence of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination with a bachelor's degree. Evidence can be in the form of an Engineering in Training certificate issued from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico, or test results from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) identifying a passing score; OR
  • Evidence of current professional registration or licensure as a Professional Engineer or Architect. Evidence of current professional registration or licensure can be from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations:

GS-7:
Experience: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-9:
Experience or Education:
Candidates at this level must meet one of the following:

• (a) One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR
• (b) Master of Engineering degree or Master of Architecture degree or Master of Science degree in Engineering or a related field of study as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1); OR
• (c) Bachelor's degree as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1) plus two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the core competencies for GS-09 level assignment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of the principles, theories, concepts and practices of the engineering profession.
2. Ability to interpret relevant codes, regulations, guidelines and standards to make recommendations to assure compliance with healthcare facility programs.
3. Ability to understand the operational professional engineering needs of clinical services in the healthcare system.
4. Ability to prepare material on current technical topics and trends for presentation to other technical staff and mid-level hospital management and to keep abreast of changes in engineering technology related to a healthcare facility.

GS-11:
Experience or Education:
Candidates at this level must meet one of the following:

• (a) One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR
• (b) Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in Engineering or a related field of engineering as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1); OR
• (c) Master of Engineering degree, Master of Architecture degree, Master of Science degree in Engineering or a related field of study as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1), plus 1 full year of progressively higher level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities for GS-11 level assignment; OR
• (d) Bachelor's degree as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1) plus 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities for GS-11 level assignment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of either mechanical, electrical, structural, civil or other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications in the healthcare environment.
2. Knowledge of basic project management principles as applied to the healthcare setting.
3. Ability to apply healthcare engineering related standards, codes, policies and regulations, inclusive of, state and local codes.
4. Ability to communicate effective orally and in writing with internal and external customers with tact and diplomacy.
5. Ability to develop material for clinical or administrative staff that addresses the principles and application of engineering technology and/or theory used in healthcare.
6. Ability to advise staff on emerging engineering technology related to a healthcare facility, while keeping abreast of changes in such technology and utilizing the information to solve healthcare facility engineering challenges.

GS-12
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to meeting the experience requirements for this grade level, the candidate must fully demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, structural, civil and other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications in the healthcare environment.
2. Knowledge of healthcare industry standards and related regulatory agency and organization (including, but not limited to The Joint Commission (TJC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), etc.) regulations, requirements, guides, policies, procedures, directives, standards and general medical program requirements as they relate to healthcare engineering.
3. Knowledge of construction standards, methods, practices and techniques, materials and equipment to determine compliance with engineering regulations and standards.
4. Skill in researching and analyzing information, conditions, human factors and projections to make sound engineering and business recommendations and decisions to proactively identify problems and develop innovative solutions within the context of applicable rules, regulations and procedures.
5. Ability to plan and execute complex, multi-faceted projects and inspections while prioritizing resources against approved scopes of work, contract documents and budgets.
6. Ability to organize and lead multi-disciplinary task forces with members from different departments and divisions, as well as design and construction firms.

Preferred Experience: Construction related experience preferred.

References: VHA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G72

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-7 to GS-12.

Physical Requirements: light lifting and carrying (under 15 lbs), use of fingers, being outside and inside, working alone, use of computer and mouse.

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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a 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.