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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***

This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-9. At the GS-8 grade level, the employee performs assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-9. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds.

Major Duties:

• Conducts regular drinking water quality inspections.
• Conducts bacteriological testing for water and ice sources.
• Provides food sanitation training to military and civilian personnel.
• Implement the environmental and communicable disease prevention program.
• Maintains the latent tuberculosis treatment database, reporting all discrepancies to the

Preventive Medicine Officer (PMO).

• Performs entry and quality assurance of Military Readiness Reporting System (MRRS) data entries for all divisions going through Recruit Training Command.

• Assists the Rabies Control Program. Coordinates the animal bite report completion with Emergency Medical Services, Army Veterinary Command, and Environmental Health.
• Analyze and evaluate collected data, noting trends and anomalies - Completes daily entries of relevant data in the following electronic databases:

o Navy Disease Reporting System
o Tuberculosis Surveillance Database
o Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Database
o Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Database
o Blood Donors and Viral Markers Database
o Communicable Disease Summary Database for Infection Control
o Health Care Worker Surveillance (Immunizations and TST)
o Medical Readiness Reporting System (MRRS)
o Defense Occupational Environmental Health Readiness System (DOEHRS)
o ESSENCE
o Illinois Disease Surveillance System
o Local Databases, as required.

• Protects database information compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Generates tables, charts, and trend reports from the databases. Trains junior personnel on all aspects of database.
• Performs program oversight actions, self-assessments, and quality management metrics.
• Generates routine correspondence, inspection reports, memorandums, and others as required.

DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITON: 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. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test results is received.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00AM - 4:30PM
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: 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
• 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 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-08:
Possess one year of specialized experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of this position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level. Specialized experience is experience that involved identifying, preventing, or eliminating health hazards in one or more areas of environmental sanitation. Such experience must have provided a practical knowledge of environmental health hazards, survey techniques, and control and eradication methods, and may have been gained in work such as biological technician, medical technician, pest control technician, quality control positions with dairy or food service industries, or environmental health worker. Journey level experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work was closely associated with and provided the required knowledge of environmental health techniques, methods, and skills, e.g., pest control operator, water plant operator. Specialized experience also includes interviewing patients with communicable diseases and their contacts, experience implementing the Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Surveillance Program, the Tuberculosis Surveillance and Control Program. Administers the tuberculin skin test (TST) for civilian and active-duty members, performs the final TST interpretation and records results in electronic medical records. Refers patients for follow-up X-Ray, Assists the Rabies Control Program, coordination of bite report completion with the emergency medical services, plans, delivers, and evaluates health education classes for active-duty members and their commanders, military and civilian supervisors and their staff, health care workers, assists all inspection, interview, and data collection/reporting activities related to food-borne illness outbreak investigations. Conducts initial and periodic screening of electronic medical records of healthcare workers, reviewing immunization and tuberculosis screening status, as applicable, protects database information compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Act precautions. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit.
OR
EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: Possession of one and a half (1 ½) years of graduate education that is directly related to the work of this position will meet the specialized experience required for this position. Transcripts required.
OR
COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Must possess an equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described above that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Experience must be detailed, and transcripts required. Transcripts required.

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

• Computer Skills
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Interpersonal Skills
• Teamwork
• Technical Competence

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.

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; 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.

Physical Requirements: The work consists of some physical activities that require long periods of standing, considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, recurring lifting of moderately heavy items (weighing under 50 pounds [e.g., lifting and carrying applicable test equipment, data collection and monitoring devices, or sample trays]), balancing, walking over rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activity; and handling materials. The work environment for the employee may include a mix of office, laboratory, and/or field work.

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. 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.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

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.