Clarification from the agency

Vacancy is open to the public, all Facility, VHA employees and Other Federal employees should apply to announcement CBSU-12442688-24-RR

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The Assistant Chief Biomedical Engineer provides professional healthcare technology services to clinical and administrative departments. These services include but not limited to healthcare technology assessment, cost analysis of equipment life cycle, acquisition support, project management, maintenance service contract procurement, training, compliance monitoring, and performance analysis. The incumbent assists the Chief
Biomedical Engineer and Clinical Engineering Service in monitoring the Medical Equipment Management Program to ensure the program is within the compliance of the Joint Commission, NFPA, VA Information Security for medical equipment system, and FDA regulation of Healthcare Technology. He/she compiles analytical performance data for the Clinical Engineering Department maintenance and professional. Additionally, he/she is responsible for presenting data to local, VISN and National groups upon request.

Incumbent is responsible for implementing the management of the medical equipment management program. He/she ensures that medical equipment in the Medical Center is safe for patients and staff, reliable in its results, and experiences minimal downtime. Achievement in these areas includes improving workflow processes and ensuring preventive and corrective maintenance is performed in accordance with polices. Additionally, incumbent
employs innovation and technical expertise to develop techniques, protocols, standard operational procedures, and policies for ensuring equipment is maintained properly and effectively.

In coordination with the Chief Biomedical Engineer, exercises budgetary authority over the program and is responsible for managing departmental spending. Metrics of the program must be tracked, and resource adjustments made to ensure efficient performance.

Knowledge of requirements from VHA, the Joint Commission (TJC), NFPA, College of American Pathologists (CAP), SOARS, FDA, OSHA and other groups are met for the medical equipment management program. This requires incumbent to remain current with standards interpretation and implementation objectives. He/she is required to maintain competence by participating in continuing education activities.

Incumbent assists with the oversight of the Recall and Alerts program for ECHCS's medical equipment. This specialized program is responsible for ensuring that medical equipment identified in an Alert or FDA Recall is accurately accounted for and all required actions taken. He/she is responsible for ensuring Clinical Engineering Staff follows recommendations form the FDA, manufacturer, or any other agency recommendations. Documentation must be sufficient for TJC or FDA audit and hold up to potential legal challenges.

He/she actively participates as a member of the VISN 19 Biomedical Engineering Team and other medical center committees. He/she leads meetings with manufacturers, vendors and their engineers in matters involving medical equipment and systems for both the VISN and local medical center.

Incumbent leads and develops the work performance specifications for medical instrumentation service contracts and monitors the work of service contractors to assure that the work performance meets the needs of the Medical Center and conforms to the terms of the contract. He/she leads interfaces with a multiplicity of services on solving problems related to contracts.

Assists Chief Biomedical Engineer and/or supervisors during the technical responses to medical equipment-related incidents that occur within the Medical Center. This includes immediate documentation, chain of custody, staff interviews, communications with medical staff, patient safety and management, Regional Counsel, and often includes VACO, CEOSH and FDA contacts as well. Occasionally, such an incident is of the magnitude to necessitate national Alerts on the subject, and the incumbent and other biomedical engineering staff participate in drafting these Alerts.

Preferred Experience: Supervisory experience.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday to Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized

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.
• 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

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• Education and/or Experience
• (1) Bachelor's degree: Professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (a) Be in a school of engineering with at least 1 curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; or, (b) Include differential and integral calculus, and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in 5 of the following 7 areas of engineering science or physics: (1) statics and/or dynamics; (2) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (3) fluid mechanics and/or hydraulics; (4) thermodynamics; (5) electrical fields and circuits; (6) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); or (7) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
  
  OR,
  
  (2) Combination of education and experience: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished: [a] a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering; and [b] a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to 1 of the branches of engineering.
  • Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
  • English Language Proficiency. Biomedical engineers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a
  Preferred Experience: Extensive experience in Biomedical Engineer and proficient engineering skills. The candidate must demonstrate knowledge of advanced concepts, principles and practices of Biomedical Engineering including electronics, networking and computer science as they apply to technology in health care delivery. Must also be well versed with office computer programs such as Word and Excel. The Biomedical Engineer has extensive knowledge of a wide array of complex healthcare technologies and a high degree of technical and management judgment and initiative to effectively anticipate, identify and solve unique technical, operational, and personnel related issues in the dynamic healthcare environment.
  
  Grade Determinations: GS-13
  
  Experience: Completion of at least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower level, and must fully meet the KSAs at that level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  
  Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
  
  i. Knowledge of the management of overall department resources, i.e., finances, space, equipment, supplies, and staffing at the local level.
  ii. Ability to draft and/or recommend local policies and/or directives related to healthcare technology management.
  iii. Ability to balance multiple responsibilities, set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions.
  iv. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems to develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the area of responsibility.
  v. Skill in interpersonal relationships in leading and dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers, both within and outside the biomedical engineering program, to include conflict management, dispute resolution, mediation, or reasonable accommodations.
  
  
  References: VA Handbook 5005 Biomedical Engineer, GS-0858 Series https://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5005.pdfGS-0858
  
  Physical Requirements: The majority of the incumbent's duties are sedentary in nature, however, duties may require kneeling, carrying, climbing, crawling, lifting and working in confined spaces or on ladders. The incumbent's duties require exposure to environments where there is a possibility of exposure to contagious diseases and infections, as well as exposure to high temperature, high voltage and amperage, ultraviolet and other radiation, and hazardous materials. The incumbent must have a thorough understanding of universal precautions in order to ensure the safety of him/herself as well as the Biomedical Section.

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.