Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent VHA employees ONLY

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The RSO serves as the subject matter expert on Radiation Safety to ensure that safety is maintained, policies are implemented, and by providing expert, comprehensive radiation safety oversight for the Madison VA Hospital and the affiliated outpatient facilities

Duties include but are not limited to

• Ordering Radioactive Materials
• Monitoring Incoming Shipments
• Maintaining Radiation Safety Program Records
• Developing and instructing seminars, classes and demonstrations for the instruction of medical and research personnel

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: 7:00am to 3:30pm M-F
Position Description/PD#: Health Physicist (Radiation Safety Officer)/PD25273A

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 will 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, 03/09/2026.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09.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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Basic Requirements

You must possess a degree in natural science or engineering that includes at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus? TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED OR
You must possess courses as per the education requirements above, plus appropriate experience or other education or certification as a health physicist by American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to the basic education as described above? TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, the following experience and/or education is required to qualify for this position.

GS-09

Experience: Must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Health Physicist position, and that is typically in or related to the duties of this position? To be credible, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position consists of: experience in positions that provided professional knowledge of radiation safety, health physics principles, radiation dosimetry, radiation calculations, radiation biology, and radiation shielding techniques; knowledge of federal regulations promulgated by the VHA, NHPP, FDA, OSHA, DOT, and EPA; knowledge of categories of radiation hazards, potential for internal and external exposure, and common methods of corrective actions in nuclear medicine and research practice; and broad knowledge of the underlying principles of X-ray producing devices and methods of assessing satisfactory performance of these systems including all types of radiographic and fluoroscopic instrumentation.
-OR-
Education: Must possess 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree
-OR-
Combination: Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown above, plus appropriate experience or other education


GS-11

Experience: Must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Health Physicist position, and that is typically in or related to the duties of this position? To be credible, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position consists of: experience in positions that provided professional knowledge of radiation safety, health physics principles, radiation dosimetry, radiation calculations, radiation biology, and radiation shielding techniques; knowledge of federal regulations promulgated by the VHA, NHPP, FDA, OSHA, DOT, and EPA; knowledge of categories of radiation hazards, potential for internal and external exposure, and common methods of corrective actions in nuclear medicine and research practice; and broad knowledge of the underlying principles of X-ray producing devices and methods of assessing satisfactory performance of these systems including all types of radiographic and fluoroscopic instrumentation.
-OR-
Education: Must possess 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
-OR-
Combination: Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown above, plus appropriate experience or other education


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

• Education and Training
• Health Physics
• Planning and Evaluating
• Quality Assurance
• Risk Management

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: Most work is performed in an office or laboratory setting; however, the use of protective clothing, aprons or other safety devices and gear may be required for certain activities related to the work. In the course of duties associated with the position, the health physicist is periodically exposed to radioactive materials and ionizing radiation. Essential Employee Travel to/from the Wm. S Middleton VA Hospital, to/from affiliated outpatient clinics and to/from Clement J. Zablocki VAMC will be required on occasion.

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.