Clarification from the agency

Open to ALL US CITIZENS, CTAP, and and ICAP eligibles. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205) for this occupation.

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Major duties include but may not be limited to the following:

Program Management

• Planning and implementation of comprehensive industrial hygiene programs at the facility (Industrial Hygiene Exposure Assessments, Respiratory Protection, Hearing Conservation, Indoor Air Quality/Mold and Moisture Management, Ergonomics, Asbestos, Laboratory Occupational Health, Chemical Hygiene, & Lead sampling, among others)
• Assume a lead role in the development of industrial hygiene goals, policies, and procedural documentation for the facility.
• Work closely with facility leadership to review how industrial hygiene considerations are integrated into the planning and operational activities of the facility for which he/she is responsible
• Support the development of facility industrial hygiene policies, programs, and procedural documentation
• Conduct surveys of working conditions to determine the nature and magnitude of hazardous exposures and the effectiveness of existing control measures
• Apply appropriate sampling techniques and procedures and may oversee the work of contractors engaged to perform specific monitoring
• Where hazardous exposures are discovered, devise or work with engineers to develop control measures, such as changes in work procedures, systems, materials or the use of personal protective equipment.

Test and Evaluation

• Evaluation of occupational health hazards thru the use of experienced judgment, qualitative, and quantitative measurement techniques to assess the magnitude of occupational health and environmental stressors in relation to their potential to impair workers' health and well-being.
• Employing a wide variety of sampling instrumentation and techniques and having an understanding of the types and limitations of analytical methods used in determining sample results, interpreting the results, and the determining the degree of hazard to which workers are exposed after ascertaining the intensity and duration of exposure

Communication and Collaboration

• Assist service by serving on, and providing, subject matter expertise to: committees such as Safety & Health Leadership Executive Committee (SHLEC), Accident Review Board, Patient Safety, Water Safety/Management, Ergonomics. May also participate in Environment of Care rounds, and assisting the DECON Team and VISN 5 Safety/IH.
• Implements IH policies and programs in accordance with regulatory requirements, consensus industry standards, consensus guidelines, Veterans Heath Administration (VHA) Directives and Guidelines, facility policies, and local government policies.
• Utilize and manage computer programs and databases to track and manage the IH program. Manage a tracking system of IH equipment to ensure serviceability and inventory of supplies. Discuss deficiencies and provide necessary remedial action with appropriate stakeholders.

Project Management

• Anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of occupational health and environmental conditions or stressors arising in or from the workplace, which may cause illness, injury, impaired health, significant discomfort, and/ or inefficiency.
• Provide technical advice and direction to management and personnel regarding the IH program.
• Serve as a project manager for IH contracts and programs at our facility.
• Responsible compliance with Joint Commission Standards and regulatory requirements, consensus industry standards, consensus guidelines, Veterans Heath Administration (VHA) Directives and Guidelines, facility policies, and local government policies.
• Participate and respond to external reviews and inspections, including the Annual Workplace Evaluations (AWEs)
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Ad-Hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Industrial Hygienist/PD048530
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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)
• Possession of a valid, unrestricted Drivers License.

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 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, 04/20/2026.

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-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 Education Requirements

• A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science; or
• A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene; or
• Certification from the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene(external link) (ABIH)).

Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education(external link) at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

GS-11 Qualifications

In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements above, applicants must have the following specialized experience and/or directly related education:

Education: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR

One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-9.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized Experience for this occupational series includes: the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls.

Preferred Experience: Experience with Organic Chemistry

Evaluation of Education
All science or engineering courses offered in fulfillment of the above requirements must be acceptable for credit toward the completion of a standard 4-year professional curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in science or engineering at an accredited college or university. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum.

Evaluation of Experience
Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls.
Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.