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Environmental Health Specialist

Department of Health and Human Services
Indian Health Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Environmental Health & Engineering, in the California Area Indian Health Service, Arcata District Office. This position is responsible for independently planning, developing and implementing a comprehensive environmental health program on assigned reservations; Safe water, solid and hazardous waste management, food protection, occupational health and safety, vector control, community injury prevention.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/17/2024 to 01/17/2025
Salary
$49,025 to - $94,317 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Arcata, CA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
IHS-25-CA-12594059-DE
Control number
817529300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

The IHS is required by law to give absolute preference to qualified applicants who meet the Secretary of the Interior's definition of Indian for appointment to vacancies within the IHS in accordance with established IHS policy as outlined in the Indian Health Manual Part 7, Chapter 3. The IHS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Duties

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  • Plans, implements and evaluates a comprehensive environmental health program on assigned reservations that emphasizes safe water, solid and hazardous waste management, food protection, occupational health and safety, vector control, community injury prevention, healthy homes, and institutional health.
  • Conducts comprehensive environmental health surveys of all IHS, and tribal facilities including; schools, head starts, day care centers, gaming facilities, health care, recreational facilities, Industrial operations and drug rehabilitation facilities on assigned reservations.
  • Build tribal capacity to manage environmental health hazards in their community by assisting with the development of environmental health and occupational safety policies, procedures, regulations, employee training programs ad public education materials.
  • Serves as a technical consultant to tribal program managers and leaders by assisting them with environmental health hazard identification and mitigation.
  • Performs epidemiological and infection control investigations to identify environmental factors with the potential for transmission of disease.
  • Serves as the Community Injury Prevention facilitator for assigned Tribes by assisting with the development of an interdisciplinary and epidemiological approach to reduce injuries.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Must pass pre-employment examination.
Selectee may be subject to a probationary period
U.S. Citizenship is required
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.

Background Investigation: If you are selected for this vacancy, you must undergo a pre-employment fingerprint check and background investigation. Fingerprint results and background investigation documentation must be cleared prior to hire. After you begin your employment, your continued employment is contingent upon the outcome of a complete background investigation as determined by the sensitivity level of your position. The investigation must find that you are suitable for Federal employment in your position. If you are found not suitable, you will be terminated after you begin work. If you make a false statement in any part of your application, you may not be hired; you may be fired after you begin work; or subject to possible criminal charges. You may be subject to a credit check as a part of the background investigation process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

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; religious; spiritual; community; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

For positions requiring positive education requirements, or if you are using education to meet all or part of the qualification requirements, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or an itemized list of college courses which includes equivalent information from the transcript (course title, semester/quarter hours, and grade/degree earned) in your resume.

BASIC REQUIREMENT:
Education - Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained.

In addition, to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below-

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
For GS-7: Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the private or public sector) performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Conducting standardized environmental health inspections and investigative methods to reduce environmentally related illness and injury risks. Contribute to the instruction of environmental health related training to reduce communicable diseases and injury.
OR
Completion of one (1) year of graduate level education, or Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) in a field that is directly related to the work of this position. For information on S.A.A. go to: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4f
OR
Combination of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level. Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

For GS-9: Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Implementation and management of field-based programs designed to identify, assess, and recommend mitigation strategies to prevent and eliminate environmental health hazards.
OR
2 years of progressively higher level education leading to a master's degree, or master's or equivalent graduate degree.
OR
Combination of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level. Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. Only education in excess of the first year of graduate level education may be used to qualify applicants for GS-9 positions.

Note: An academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. This determination is made based on normal course loads for a full year of study in the graduate program. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours will be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

This position has an education requirement. You are strongly encouraged to submit a copy of your transcripts or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed, and grades. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. Official transcripts will be required from all selectees prior to receiving an official offer.

Only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may be credited. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://www.ed.gov/accreditation.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

**This position is being announced concurrently under Excepted Service Examining Plan (ESEP) and Merit Promotion procedures. Please review vacancy announcement number IHS-25-CA-12594067-ESEP/MP; for eligibility requirements. NOTE: Applicants must apply separately for each announcement in order to be considered.**

This position is being re-advertised to solicit additional applications. Applicants who applied previously need not reapply unless submitting updated and/or missing information.



This position is eligible for workplace flexibilities which may include telework options, and/or flexible work scheduling. These flexibilities may be requested in accordance with the HHS Workplace Flexibilities policy. https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/asa/ohr/hr-library/990-1/index.html.

Additional selection(s) of candidates may be possible within 240 days from the date the certificate of eligibles was issued for this announcement.

Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. IHS may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their directly related previous non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave.

Recruitment or relocation incentives may be authorized and/or Permanent Change of Station. At least a 6 month service agreement will be required.

This position has promotion potential to the GS-11 grade level. Promotion to the next grade level is at management's discretion and is based on your demonstrated ability to perform the higher level duties, the continuing need for the higher level duties, and "Regulatory/Administrative" approval. Promotion to the next higher grade level is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied.

How you will be evaluated

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

If you meet the minimum qualifications requirements for this position, your application will be evaluated and rated under Category Rating selection procedures. Once the application process is complete, a review of your qualifications will be conducted to determine if you are qualified for this job. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The quality categories are: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within each of these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-preference eligibles.

Please note that if, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your category rating can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

To determine if you are qualified for this position, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against the qualifications as defined in the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement and your responses to the assessment questions. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume (your resume must state specific duties that relate to this position) and your responses to the assessment questions will be evaluated against the duties you provided in your resume, along with your submitted documentation to determine your ability to demonstrate the following.

  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Technical Competence
  • Writing


The following links below provide information on how you may be eligible for various hiring authorities. If you are a Veteran, qualified CTAP and ICTAP eligible, or an individual with a disability, please refer to the following links below for additional guidance. CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating of 85 out of 100. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Workforce Restructuring Career Transition website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
Click here to view vacancy questions: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12594059. All documents above MUST be received by 11:59 pm (Eastern Standard Time) of the closing date of, 01/17/2025, to be considered.

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