Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration. Eligible applicants will be reviewed in the following order: 1. Current permanent VHA employees of the facility. 2. All other VHA employees. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Has collaborative oversite of all Non-Critical, Critical, and Semi-Critical RMD Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with the SPS Chief and QA/Educator.
• Interacts administratively with all services that are impacted by RMD, including but not limited to: Surgery, Medicine, Imaging, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dental, Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) and more through positive interaction and collaboration.
• Manages RMD according to the SPS Directives and organizational standards of practice including but not limited to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the Association for peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN), the Association for Surgical Technologists (AST), Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) and (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology).
• Ensures all reprocessing personnel are empowered to stop the line for any improperly processed devices or questionable processes.
• Ensures single use, disposable medical devices (SUDs) are never reused, reprocessed or re-sterilized.
• Performs work and assignments at the full performance level of an SPS MST including all areas of SPS, decontamination, disinfection, inspection, preparation, packaging, sterilization, storage, and transport of all critical and semi-critical RMD, reprocessing procedures and equipment.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00 am - 3:30 pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not 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.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

• Citizenship - You must be a citizen of the United States
• English Language Proficiency - English Language Proficiency - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d)
• Experience and/or Education -
  • Experience - Six months of experience that demonstrates the ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; OR
  • Education - One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position;OR
  • Experience/Education Combination - Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

Grandfather Provision. A Medical Supply Technician (MST) employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (May 28, 2014) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
3. Employees who are converted to Title 38 Hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations:

GS 7 Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) RME Coordinator

• Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-07 you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6).

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • Ability to interact with individuals of varying backgrounds in order to assess the needs of the department.
  • Ability to coordinate work in order to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
  • Ability to interpret and apply sterile processing/infection prevention regulations and policies.
  • Ability to evaluate new products and equipment.
  • Ability to initiate and lead interdisciplinary groups in carrying out sterile processing functions.???????

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS 7.

Physical Requirements: This work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply (preparation) and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus. The incumbent may be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, drafty and poorly lighted. The employee is subject to the possibility of falls, scrapes, cuts, bruises, and other injuries from material handling equipment. The work requires standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds). The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation

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.