Clarification from the agency

This job is open to status candidates only.

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• Fire Protection Specialist - Stays current on fire protection regulations and installed fire system technologies. Conducts testing of all fire zones and validates system operation and compliance with state and federal requirements.
• Reviews facility construction projects for adequacy of fire protection provides recommendations for design/modification.
• Ensures technical non-medical systems are operational. Responsible for the following systems:
  • Overhead Paging - This is considered a life-safety system and is the primary means for emergency communications throughout VASNHCS main campus and surrounding buildings.
  • Nurse Call System - This system provides the primary means for patients to contact nursing staff when they need assistance. This is also a life-safety system in that it provides capability to initiate Code Blue calls for hospital staff to respond to patients in critical condition.
  • Patient Elopement System - This system is essential in keeping patients from wandering away from their healthcare area. This system integrates with the facility auto-activated doors and the fire protection system. System involves use of computer, wireless patient tags, power supply, corridor digital display and alarm activation technologies.
  • Healthcare Wireless Phones - These phones are used to monitor vital signs and alarms for patients on telemetry as well as for communicating with patients via the nurse call system. This system is comprised of computer servers, software, and wireless network technologies.
• Performs maintenance, calibration and troubleshooting of less complex electronics systems including critical care beds, intercom systems, security alarm systems, mobile radios, and patient entertainment systems. Directs others in performing these functions as necessary.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 0730 - 1600
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Electronics Technician/PD04716A

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
• 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)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period 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 probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/20/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Individual Occupational Requirements:

• Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.

In addition to the individual Occupational Requirements You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Electronics engineering and theory: Comprehensive, intensive, and practical knowledge of working systems that use state of the art microprocessor driven integrated circuitry which is constantly undergoing technological changes. Information Technology and Tele-communications: An ever-increasing component of the complex systems the incumbent will maintain includes technologies that incorporate network servers and their associative network, wireless Voice-Over IP technology, wireless monitoring systems, and mass-communication systems. Electronics troubleshooting methods: Complex systems often involve dozens of subsystems that interact and necessitate highly trained troubleshooting skills. Mechanical troubleshooting: Skill in working with precise mechanical subsystems, in order to maintain the alignment, balance and operation of the systems is required for the vast majority of the most complex systems. Instrumentation methods and signal processing: The complex systems supported by the position may involve any of a wide variety of signal production, sensing, and processing systems. Knowledge of the field of Electronics Engineering and Fire Protection/Life Safety: The position requires technical skills that are mentioned previously in addition to professional skills which are required to operate in healthcare environments.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Biomedical Equipment Technology
• Engineering and Technology
• Fire Management
• Health Information Technology Standards Development
• Infrastructure Design

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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: In performing the maintenance functions of the position, the incumbent must be able to stoop, reach, kneel, crouch, and maintain intense concentration for considerable periods of time under the most adverse conditions. Frequent use of tall ladders and man-lifts are necessary to reach many of the fire detection devices for testing/maintenance. Other areas that are commonly accessed are restricted crawlways
and hatches where these detection devices are located. Acceptable hearing, visual accuracy, field of vision, and color perception are required for working on minute circuits. Moderate lifting is necessary. Heavy lifting (over 40 lbs.) can be accomplished by getting assistance when needed. Circuit repairs required adequate eyesight and dexterity for working on high-density boards.

Work Environment: Incumbent is frequently called upon to work in intensely stressful situations in areas such as surgical suites, intensive care units, special procedures laboratories, catheterization laboratories etc. Hazardous radio communication repair is at times performed by maintaining many of the aerial antennas located on the facilities' rooftop. Such work requires wearing safety harnesses and extended exposure to the outside weather elements. Other areas of work when maintaining fire/smoke detection devices and their associated wiring can occur within confined and restrictive areas, such as overhead ceiling duct spaces, facility basement areas, underground crawlways, etc. These conditions present potentially hazardous conditions, as well as diminished oxygen levels when working below ground level. Confined space permits are prepared whenever required. Standard infection control procedures and precautions are required to safely operate within the hospital work environment. Work is occasionally required to
be performed at any of the facilities which comprise the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System. Occasional travel to satellite clinics requiring one to four hours of driving one way is required. Overnight travel is rarely required to accomplish repairs or scheduled maintenance inspections at satellite clinics.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the 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.