Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens; all qualified candidates encouraged to apply.

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• Experience performing and/or assisting with laboratory experiments including cell culture and staining of tissue sections.
• Experience independently conducting experiments, data collection, analysis, and interpretation
• Handle mice, maintain mouse breeding colony, collect tissue for genotyping, perform mouse surgical procedures.
• Organize and maintain data records in lab notebooks and in computer spreadsheets, graph and perform statistical analysis on results.
• Present results to Principal Investigator (PI) and other lab members individually and in group settings.
• Operate standard lab equipment such as microscopes, centrifuges, balances, and pH meters.
• Help maintain equipment in good working order.
• Assisting lab members in a variety of laboratory techniques as required/assigned, such as PCR, mouse behavioral testing, or administration of test substances.
• Perfusion fixation of rodents and processing brains for histological examination.
• Helps to evaluate mice health, well-being, and behavior before, during and after research experiments.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/27/2026.

Individual Occupation Requirements: All qualified applicants must meet this requirement for the WOC- Research Biological Science Laboratory Technician (Animal), 0404 series.

Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: managing timeline and deliverables for successful completion of projects, facilitating compliance with all regulatory and administrative requirements, collection of blood samples and tissues, performing routine techniques in the laboratory such as cell culture, design and execution of different project activities, and collecting, analyzing, and storing samples for further 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: Walking, bending, stooping, reaching, and lifting is involved in moving animal cages and for routine care and treatment of animals. Persons who are known to have allergies to fur and/or animal dander, should not work in this area.

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.

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.