Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. OPEN TO PERMANENT CURRENT HINES VA EMPLOYEES ONLY.

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• Responsible for the development, implementation, daily oversight, and evaluation of the equipment management program that meets current Joint Commission (TJC) and NFPA requirements.
• Responsible for developing and implementing cost effective, appropriate maintenance strategies for healthcare equipment, and evaluating the effectiveness of those strategies.
• Conducts data analysis on medical equipment utilization, repairs and errors to support the Medical Equipment Management Plan.
• Manages a recall and safety alert program for medical devices, including medical device incident investigations to assure compliance with patient safety goals, FDA, Safe Medical Device Act (SMDA), and TJC requirements.
• He/she reviews FDA, VA, ECRI, manufacturer's letters, etc., implementing reviewed actions and documentation in equipment history and reports as needed to Hines Safety Committee, FDA and Manufacturer.
• Serves as lead on all recalls and hazard alert notices for Repairable Medical Devices.
• Responsible for advising clinical and administrative staff on medical technology including existing and emerging technology addressing viability, long-term suitability, compatibility, and/or safety while keeping abreast of changes in technology and utilizing information gained in the solution of biomedical engineering problems.
• Serves as member of Great Lakes Organization of Biomedical Engineers (GLOBE), and ad hoc committees as needed.
• Assists with capital asset and infrastructure planning for medical equipment throughout its entire life cycle.
• Responsible for evaluating complex medical equipment systems to determine the feasibility of installation, including utilities and space requirements and interconnectivity with existing equipment and systems.
• Responsible for evaluation of medical equipment as it reaches the end of its useful life and planning for appropriate replacement.
• Serves as institutional expert who directly supports the most complex and specialized clinical technology including service, system administration, training, and quality assurance.
• He/she functions as the subject matter expert in Biomedical Engineering and medical equipment.
• The incumbent is a recognized authority in all matters related to Biomedical Engineering at this hospital and operates independent of any technical supervision.
• He/she distributes the workload, assigns priorities, performs independent assessments and analyses, and recommends policy changes. Due to the nature of the work, no established guidelines exist. In such cases, the incumbent's decision may set precedents and help form policy.
• The incumbent is expected to analyze, organize, innovate, modify, and adapt as necessary to carry out program objectives. The incumbent's recommendations are accepted as professionally sound and authoritative, and his/her work is judged by the achievement of productive results

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 700am to 300pm
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Physical Demands: The work is sedentary. There may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items.
Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office setting with adequate lighting and other facilities with no unusual health hazards. The incumbent observes normal safety precautions.

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 drg 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency.
• Education and/or Experience: Possess a bachelor's degree in professional engineering from an accredited college or university. To be acceptable, the curriculum must (1) be in school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. Transcripts Required. OR
• Possess a combination of college level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. Transcripts Required. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

Professional Registration: current registration as a professional engineer by any State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (e.g., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would not be rated eligible for biomedical engineering positions. Registration Required.

Written Test: Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners of a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (e.g., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. Applicants who have passed the EIT examination may be rated eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their examination at the GS-5 grade level.

Specified Academic Courses: Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described above (paragraph - Possess bachelor's degree).

Transcripts Required. Curriculum: Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily, there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. Transcripts Required.
In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met to qualify at the GS-13 grade level for this Biomedical Engineer position.
GRADE REQUIREMENTS:
Experience: Completion of at least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower level (GS-12), and must fully meet the GS-12 KSAs at that level.
GS-12 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:1) Ability to conduct an equipment management program that meets current JCAHO and NFPA requirements.2) Ability to develop a curriculum for a continuing education program that addresses the safe and effective use of medical equipment and/or technology.3) Ability to manage a recall and safety alert program for medical devices including medical device hazard investigations to assure compliance with patient safety goals, SMDA, and JCAHO requirements.4) Skill in advising clinical and administrative staff on medical engineering technology, including existing and emerging technology and which addresses viability, long-term suitability, compatibility, and/or safety.5) Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and recommend timely and economical solutions involving medical equipment spanning initial concept, installation, and effective implementation of complex medical equipment.GS-13

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following professional GS-13 KSAs and potential to acquire the assignment specific KSAs designated by an asterisk (*):*1) Ability to conduct capital asset and infrastructure planning for medical equipment spanning initial concept, installation, and effective implementation of complex medical equipment.*2) Knowledge of the most complex and specialized clinical technology including service, system administration, training, and quality assurance.3) Expert knowledge of, and the ability to interpret and apply, complex codes, regulations, guidelines, and standards associated with the biomedical engineering field.
References: VA Handbook 5005/15, Part II, Appendix G38, Biomedical Engineer Qualification Standards. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
.Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 located in the Human Resources Office.

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.