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. This announcement is open to CTAP, ICTAP eligible and All U.S. Citizens.

The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define "who we are," our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries.The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE").As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. With many openings in the multiple functions of VA, you will have a wide range of opportunities and leadership positions at your fingertips.

• Coordinates the efforts of health care system staff to ensure that the environmental program is developed and implemented in accordance with national, agency, state and local policy and guidance.
• Coordinates an effective health care decontamination team in compliance with standards of the Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Joint Commission.
• Performs on-site inspections of new construction to ensure compliance with all applicable codes, standards, and health care system policies.
• Manages medical center environmental programs and coordinates efforts of organizations that relate to environmental matters.
• Keeps abreast of latest development in environmental management systems, respiratory protection, and health care decontamination by review of technical publications, attending technical conferences or professional society meetings, and discussions with industry representatives.
• Is the technical authority for the health care system with the responsibility for assuring adequacy of the Green Environmental Management System program, respiratory protection, and decontamination requirements for the operations and maintenance of such programs.
• Develops, evaluates, and provides corrective actions for respirator programs. Recommends and approves remedial actions.
• Conducts internal annual gap analysis of program in preparation for evaluation by higher level office. Reviews implementation of policy and procedures and reports the status to national level. Discusses deficiencies and remedial action with appropriate local leadership and committee. Approves preventive and corrective actions.
• Reviews how expansion, modifications, or closures of existing facilities and infrastructure and new constructions will affect the environment, and provides information that will minimize adverse impacts to human health and the environment and reduce the health care system's vulnerability.
• Conducts education program for employees in the prevention of occupational exposures and diseases (hazard communication program) and documents all training.
• Cooperatively works with federal, state, and local environmental and occupational safety and health organizations in areas of mutual interest.
• Responds to inquiries and provides technical assistance to health care system personnel.
• Calibrates and uses a variety of industrial hygiene instrumentation, including but not limited to air sampling pumps, noise survey instruments, and field direct reading devices.
• Develops, implements, and maintains the respiratory protection program to include identification of workplaces requiring respiratory protection, coordination of medical examinations, and conducting respirator training and fit-testing for affected employees.
• Receives and disposes of hazardous wastes and maintains appropriate records in accordance with existing Environmental Protection Agency standards and state law.
• Develops and presents budgetary information related to environmental programs.
• Identifies and requisitions test equipment used in performing industrial hygiene tasks.
• Implements and monitors compliance with federal, state, and local environmental and other requirements preventing pollution, minimizing waste, and conserving cultural and natural resources.
• Conducts studies of work operations and processes, examines work environments, analyzes findings, promotes recommendations, and prepares reports.
• Receives and disposes of hazardous wastes and maintains appropriate records in accordance with existing regulations.
• Responds to industrial hygiene inquiries and provides technical assistance to employees.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Industrial Hygienist (GEMS)/PD035680Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Industrial Hygienist - Recruitment/Relocation Incentive - Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Occasional travel required to/from parent facility in San Antonio, TX and outpatient clinic locations. Approved training opportunities may require travel to location of training.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/25/2026.

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.

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR). The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following 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 American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH).

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

GS-09 grade level:
One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Receives and disposes of hazardous wastes and maintains appropriate records in accordance with existing Environmental Protection Agency standards and state law. Responds to industrial hygiene inquiries and provides technical assistance to employees. Calibrates and uses a variety of industrial hygiene instrumentation, including but not limited to air sampling pumps, noise survey instruments, and field direct reading devices. Performs on-site inspections of new construction to ensure compliance with all applicable codes, standards, and health care system policies. Develops, evaluates, and provides corrective actions for respiratory programs. Recommends and approves remedial actions.
OR

Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-09 level. 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree

OR
Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-09 level.

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond a combination of education (one year beyond the Master's Degree level) and experience as described above. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED).

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

• Standards
• Technical Competence
• Technical Problem Solving
• Communications
• Compliance
• Financial Management
• Health Risk Analysis

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: Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds, Moderate carrying, 15-44 pounds, Straight pulling (1 hour), Pulling hand over hand (1 hour), Pushing (1 hour), Reaching above shoulder, Use of fingers, Both hands required, Walking (3 hours), Standing (3 hours), Crawling (1hour), Repeated bending (1 hour), Climbing, use of legs and arms, Both legs required, Operation of crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Depth perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Ability to distinguish shades of colors, Hearing (aid may be permitted), emotional & mental stability, prosthetic limbs permitted.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. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.

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.