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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (3 years not-to-exceed 4 years ). Term appointments are non-status, non-permanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4-year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment.

Major duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Assists as with preparation of blood draw kits and shipping blood draw supplies to over 50 sites across the nation.
• Performs liaison and support duties to facilitate open communications with both internal and external customers.
• Acts as a liaison for the Project Manager and handles most communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of the organization or office pertaining to the study.
• Maintains contact with the sites, providing support and advice to site personnel.
• Provides administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository.
• Assists the Project Manager in planning and preparing materials for study specimen collection.
• Fills supply orders.
• Creates UPS air bills for the supply orders.
• Prepares blood drawing kits and shipping boxes.
• Labels blood tubes and/or kits.
• Opens boxes and separates blood tubes by study and box.
• Accessions blood samples into the biorepository database.
• Sets up and maintains blood processing and DNA extraction robots.
• Creates and maintains physical and electronic study files.
• Fills cryotanks with liquid nitrogen weekly and keeps logs of the liquid nitrogen levels in the tanks.
• Follows lab safety rules.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

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
• 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the GS-5 level, you must meet one of the following requirements:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4) in federal service. Qualifying specialized experience providing administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository Lab such as planning and preparation of all materials for study specimen collection and accessioning the samples into the biorepository data base. NOTE: Your answer will be verified against information provided on your resume. If your resume does not clearly support your response by addressing your work experience in detail you will be disqualified.

OR

EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: Successfully completed 4 years of above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE TO APPLICANTS: This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)

OR

COMBINATION: Possess equivalent combinations of experience and education as previously described to fully meet the requirements of this position. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)


You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Communications
• Information Technology Research and Development
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Competence

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. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.