Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Oversees all decontamination, sterilization, and disposition of facility critical and semi-critical RME.
• Develops and maintains a system of internal reviews that ensure service programs operate in compliance with regulatory and accrediting organizations.
• Contributes to the effective utilization of resources, budgetary allocation, and fiscal management.
• Makes selections, assigns personnel, and provides direction to subordinate staff.
• Manages the training, documenting, and evaluating of staff.
• Serves as liaison between SPS and other departments. Formulates objectives, develops priorities, and implements plans that support organizational goals.
• Ensures operations are in compliance with all safety, regulatory and accrediting requirements. Assists the Chief in overseeing the orientation and training of staff.
• Evaluating VA medical facility SPS staffing levels annually to determine requirements to support SPS management, administrative and technical workloads and reporting findings to the VA medical facility Director.
• Ensuring all VA medical facility staff that are responsible for point-of-use cleaning, transport, and storage of reusable medical devices (RMD) have the required education, training and competence validation.
• Developing, implementing, documenting, and tracking education and training programs, including initial orientation for new employees, competence validation, continuing education and staff development for all VA medical facility staff performing reusable medical devices (RMD) reprocessing.

Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm with rotation and weekends as needed.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Recruitment/Relocation incentive may be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): May be Authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 58651F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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 identification 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

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

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship - You must be a citizen of the United States
• English Language Proficiency - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d)
• Experience and/or Education -
  • Experience - Six months of experience that demonstrates the ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; OR
  • Education - One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; OR
  • Experience/Education Combination - Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

Grandfather Provision. A Medical Supply Technician (MST) employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (May 28, 2014) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
3. Employees who are converted to Title 38 Hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations Supervisory Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) - Assistant Chief - GS-9:

• Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-9 you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-8). Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Serving as a first-level supervisor responsible for the oversight of a group of MSTs, with administrative responsibility for planning and directing the work; holding corrective interviews with employees, referring disciplinary problems to higher levels of management; resolving informal complaints of employees and dealing with union representatives on personnel matters; providing technical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the organizational unit.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • Ability to plan and project staffing needs and requirements.
  • Ability to manage, interact and deal with individuals of varying backgrounds.
  • Ability to manage, direct and adapt work to accomplish program goals and objectives, and meet new and changing program requirements.
  • Ability to develop and recommend new or revised policies that are consistent with organizational goals and objectives.
  • Ability to perform a full range of supervisory duties, including assigning, planning and evaluating work, recommending awards, approving leave, identifying training needs, and resolving staff issues.
  • Ability to evaluate new products and equipment, develop options, and make recommendations.
  • Ability to manage, interpret, and present fiscal data (i.e. fund controls, contracts and equipment expenditures), forecast resource and equipment needs and administer an allocated budget.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements:
This work is performed in various settings, to include but not limited to, Decontamination and Preparation areas, Endoscopy Suite, and in other services and departments throughout the medical center.
- The employee may be required to work in a multitude of temperature variants. The employee is subject to the possibility of falls, scrapes, cuts, bruises, needle sticks, and other injuries from handling equipment.
- The work requires standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of sterile products and packages (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds).
- The employee may be required to push loaded carts weighing several hundred pounds and work them over irregularities in the floor (e.g. door sills and elevator entrance). the work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation.
- On a regular and recurring basis, the employee alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment.
- The employee wears special clothing, hair covers, personal protective equipment (PPE), and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm.
- The employee uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers.
- The employee is subject to burns from accidentally touching hot items.
- The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gases are unknown.
- The employee often works around body fluids, mucous, excretions and bits of tissue, some of which may be foul smelling.
- Strong, unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or RME.
- The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment.
- The position requires ability to work on computers for extended periods of time.
- Requires the ability to frequently respond to multiple demand and priorities.
- Self-care skills to maintain physical, psychological, and emotional health.
- GEMS: Follows all relevant safety and health standards, local directives, and other requirements; support this facility's mission to be a good environmental steward by consciously reducing the impact on our environment, including recycling, substitution of hazardous chemical with less hazardous chemicals, and energy efficiency.

Preferred Experience: 5 years of experience in Sterile Processing; 1 Year of Experience as a Lead Medical Supply Technician or Supervisor in Sterile Processing; National Certification

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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for 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; 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.

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.

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.