Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results
 

Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer (Laboratory Animal Medicine)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Office of Research and Development (ORD)

Summary

This position serves as the Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO) to direct the Veterinary Medical Unit (VMU)/Animal Research Facility (ARF) of the Research & Development Service at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System (RHJVAHCS), Charleston, SC. The incumbent serves as the institutional attending veterinarian with oversight, supervision, and direction of the Animal Care and Use Program.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/17/2026 to 04/01/2026
Salary
$147,945 to - $192,331 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Charleston, SC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
CARX-26-12901903-JMo-DH
Control number
861385700

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

ALL US Citizens DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

Videos

Duties

Help

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Total Rewards
Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Duty Location Status: Will work from a VA owned or leased space
Position Description Title/PD#: Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer (Laboratory Animal Medicine)/ PD353060
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Physical Demands: Professional work is primarily sedentary and involves some physical exertion to inspect or investigate conditions, products, facilities, and small and large animal subjects housed and treated within the Veterinary Medical Unit and may include the need to stand for an extended period of time during surgical procedures.
Supervisory Probationary Statement: Applicants selected for this position may be required to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period. Failure to successfully complete the supervisory probationary period will result in the employee being reassigned to a position in the agency of no lower grade and pay than the one the employee left to accept the supervisory or managerial position.

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.


Major Duties:
  • Provide professional guidance and technical support to the health care facility's investigators in planning, executing, and directing research and development activities involving animals. This is accomplished through consultation, guidance and advice on the comparative biology and medicine, technology, husbandry, medical and surgical care, and the selection, procurement, preparation, and use of laboratory animals.
  • Ensure adequate caretaker staffing and proper support of animal research projects at the facility.
  • Initiate and/or review requests for equipment used in the animal research facility and plans for animal research facility construction and renovation.
  • Research and evaluate policy issues that are central to the Agency's mission. Work involves comparing and contrasting current and future policies and strategies in force to formulate appropriate strategies for addressing problems, to develop timetables to ensure prompt action, and to institute efficient follow-up procedures.
  • Monitor quality program implementation and indicators designed to prevent erroneous transactions and ineffective work practices and to verify adherence to quality plans and requirements.
  • Formulate alternative courses of action for the solution of issues, provide Agency officials with recommendations and follow up to ensure agreed upon action is carried out.
  • Serve on review committees, study groups and task forces charged with the review and development of agency policies, procedures, guidelines, and standards.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
  • Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
  • Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
  • A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
  • Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
  • 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.
  • Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
  • Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/01/2026.

You may qualify based on your education/experience as described below. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must meet the following basic education and licensure requirements:
Education:

  1. Possess a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a college or school of veterinary medicine accredited by the AVMA Council on Education; OR
  2. Graduate from a foreign veterinary medical school not accredited by the AVMA Council on Education possessing one of the following:
    1. Proof of certification of final transcript by the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG); OR
    2. Current, permanent, full and unrestricted license to practice veterinary medicine in a State, District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a territory of the United States that includes successful completion of the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE) or its predecessors, the National Board Examination (NBE) and the Clinical Competency Test (CCT); OR
    3. Proof that the education obtained in a foreign veterinary medical program is equivalent to that gained in a veterinary medical program that is accredited by the AVMA Council on Education. Under this provision, equivalency is established only if an AVMA-accredited veterinary medical school or college accepts the graduate's final transcript from the foreign veterinary medical school at full value for placement into an advanced degree, postgraduate educational program or training program (e.g., residency or graduate program); AND
    4. Graduates of foreign veterinary medical programs must also provide proof of proficiency in the English language by successfully completing one of the nationally and internationally recognized examinations that incorporate assessments of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Examples of examinations that assess mastery of the English language include:
      1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) - Minimum scores for the TOEFL are 560 for the paper-based version; 220 for the computer-based version; or overall score of 83 for the internet-based version (including 26 or higher in speaking, 26 or higher in listening, and 17 or higher in writing). For the computer-based and paper-based test versions, applicants must also complete the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and the Test of Written English (TWE). Minimum required scores are 55 for the TSE and 5.5 for the TWE; OR
      2. Academic tests (listening, writing and speaking) offered by the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Applicants must achieve a minimum overall band score of 7.0, with at least 7.0 in speaking, 6.5 in listening, and 6.0 in writing; OR
      3. Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL). Applicants must achieve a minimum overall band score of 70, with at least 60 in speaking, 60 in listening, and 50 in writing.
Licensure:
  1. Possess a current, permanent, full and unrestricted license to practice veterinary medicine in a State, District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a territory of the United States that includes successful completion of the NAVLE or its predecessors, the NBE and the CCT.
  2. An employee who enters this occupation with the basic requirement for licensure, but fails to maintain licensure must be immediately removed from the occupation, which may also result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee who fails to maintain licensure may be reassigned to another occupation for which he/she qualifies if a placement opportunity exists.
AND
GRADE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must meet the grade level requirements for the position for which they wish to be considered. Applicants may qualify for each grade level through the attainment of specialized experience, residency or post-graduate training, or board certification as indicated below:
Specialized Experience: Specialized experience must demonstrate the ability of the applicant to independently perform the veterinary medical duties required for the position. Only experience gained after completing the basic education requirements described above and in a biomedical research setting in which Public Health Service Policy and United States Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act Regulations were applied under the jurisdiction of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is creditable. Experience gained at a pet veterinary clinic with species commonly used in research does not count towards meeting the specialized experience requirements.
  • To be creditable, applicants must have one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-14) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Oversight of an animal research facility; providing medical treatment to animals; providing guidance on animal model development; Leadership and guidance regarding animal research; compiling data and preparation of reports; development of policies, procedures and administration of biomedical and pre-clinical science research programs.
Residency and Post-Graduate Training: Residency or post-graduate training in an ACLAM- approved program is creditable towards meeting the grade level requirements. The discipline or specialty of the residency or post-graduate training program must be laboratory animal medicine, laboratory animal science or in an area directly related to the practice of laboratory animal medicine. Applicants must demonstrate successful completion of a residency or post-graduate training program or a level of satisfactory progression in the residency or post-graduate training program. The number of years of residency or postgraduate training required for the GS-15 grade level is as follows:
  • 5 years of progressively responsible training in an ACLAM-approved internship, residency program or fellowship training program.
Board Certification: Board certification for the laboratory animal medicine specialty is demonstrated by ACLAM Diplomate status. ACLAM Diplomate status is creditable with specialized experience or residency and post-graduate training towards meeting the grade level requirements. ACLAM Diplomate status is awarded to individuals who have completed a rigorous post-graduate training or residency program or who have gained specialized laboratory animal experience. ACLAM Diplomates must also meet publication requirements and pass certifying exams. The certifying exams cover laboratory animal biology, laboratory animal resources management, clinical laboratory animal medicine and surgery, laboratory animal pathology and animal experimentation. NOTE: Specialized experience and residency and post-graduate training requirements listed below must meet the criteria described in the applicable qualifying category above. ACLAM Diplomate status is creditable for the GS-15 grade level is as follows:
  • ACLAM Diplomate status and 1 year of specialized veterinary experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level or ACLAM Diplomate status and 5 years of progressively responsible training in an ACLAM-approved internship, residency program or fellowship training program.
(continued in Education section)

Education

(continued from Qualifications section)
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Administration and Management
  • Planning & Evaluating
  • Project Management
AND
Additional Assessment Requirements:
Executive Order (EO) 14170, Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service ("Restoring Merit"), and the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, require agencies to "incorporate skills-based and competency-based technical assessments" into the Federal hiring process.

To ensure that Federal jobs are filled based on merit and competence. Every hiring process across the competitive service, or any process otherwise subject to competitive hiring, must include at least one technical or alternative assessment before issuance of the certificate. This announcement requires the submission of an Accomplishment Record Assessment, which measures knowledge, skills, abilities, or competencies.

Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties.

To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above.

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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.
(end of Qualifications section)


EDUCATION
PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (or the Act) prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from requesting applicant criminal history record information before extending a conditional or tentative offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S.C § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Act, may submit a written complaint within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged non-compliance to VA at vacofairchanceact@va.gov. Applicant written complaints should include the following:

  • Administration name: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
  • Office name, employee name and contact information or contractor who made contact (if known).
  • Date of contact.
  • Details regarding the job opportunity announcement applied to, and copies of any documents or other evidence related to the complaint.
  • Visit Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) for more information.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.