Clarification from the agency

Open to all US Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Supervisory Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Oversees attendance and leave, including approval of sick and annual leave and vacation schedules.
• Informs higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload.
• Recommends promotions, reassignments, recognition of superior performance, retention or release of probationary employees or other changes of assigned personnel.
• Holds corrective interviews with employees, referring disciplinary problems to higher levels of management.
• Resolves informal complaints of employees and deals with union representatives on personnel matters.
• Provides technical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the organizational unit.
• Completes workload and production reports, reports on operations, problems in meeting work schedules, reports of bacteriological test results, preventive maintenance, and sterilization tests.
• Prepares, loads, and operates sterilizers such as steam, Sterrad, Steris, and high-level disinfecting scope reprocessors.
• Performs segments of work pertaining to the decontamination, sterilization and inspection of reusable medical equipment (RME).
• Plans, implements, and evaluates programs designed for care that is based upon current critical surgical and sterilization standards of practice and in accordance with International Association of Health Care Central Service and Material Management (IAHCSMM), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and Association of periOperative Nurses (AORN) guidelines.
• Oversees the complete orientation of decontamination, preparation, assembly, processing, and storing of sterile supplies, instruments, and equipment used at the Medical Center.
• Reads, and interprets all sterilizer cycle print-outs, checking parameters to assure proper time and temperature were achieved with no cautions or warnings.
• Alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment.
• Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and other applicable laws, federal regulations, VA statues and policy, and Veteran Health Administration (VHA) guidelines.
• May occasionally travel from the duty station to attend sponsored VHA training or certification courses.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 1100 PM- 7:30 AM with rotating on call hours.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

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)

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: Not Available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position,.

Functional Statement #: FS 57798F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

All 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.

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience: Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's 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.
• Grandfathering Provision (May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). All MSTs that are employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard 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 grandfathered into the GS-622 occupational series as MSTs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation. (2) MSTs 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) MSTs 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 reentry to the occupation.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U. S. programs.
• English Language Proficiency: MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience:

• Two years of lead or supervisory experience in sterile processing
• Three years combined Sterile Processing and/or Surgery experience
• Current certification through CBSPD, IAHCSMM, or AST
• Associate degree in health related concentration or business

Grade Determinations: In addition to the Basic Requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

(a) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with MST responsibilities. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as a MST. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. Duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

(b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to manage, interact and deal with individuals of varying backgrounds.
• Ability to direct staff and manage tasks to be completed.
• Ability to oversee and supervise all aspects of decontamination, preparation, sterilization, monitoring, and distribution of RME.
• 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.

(c) Assignment. The Supervisory MST functions as a first-level supervisor responsible for the oversight of a group of MSTs, with administrative responsibility for planning and directing the work. Oversees attendance and leave, including approval of sick and annual leave and vacation schedules. Informs higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload. Recommends promotions, reassignments, recognition of superior performance, retention or release of probationary employees or other changes of assigned personnel. Holds corrective interviews with employees, referring disciplinary problems to higher levels of management. Resolves informal complaints of employees and deals with union representatives on personnel matters. Provides technical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the organizational unit.

APPLICANT'S CLAIMED EXPERIENCE MUST BE FULLY DOCUMENTED IN RESUME.

References: VA Handbook 5005 Appendix G47, For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

This position is at the full performance level GS 8.

Physical Requirements: Satisfactory physical examination as determined by the Employee Health Unit upon appointment only. The VA Medical Center is a major interdisciplinary teaching facility, serving medical, surgical, and neurological inpatients and outpatients. There is a large outpatient psychiatric population, with admissions for medical co-morbidities. The work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply (preparation) and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus. The incumbent may be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, drafty and poorly lighted. The employee is subject to the possibility of falls, scrapes, cuts, bruises, and other injuries from material handling equipment. The work requires standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds). The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation. The incumbent may participate in environmental of care rounds, facility internal reviews, external reviews and various other external auditor site visits including The Joint Commission and Inspector General. These reviews include a review of work areas including supply areas that require personal protective equipment such as OR and Lab, and equipment disposal areas that involve removal of hazardous waste.

VA facilities must make reasonable accommodation for the physical or mental limitations of an applicant or employee who is a qualified person with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the department or agency.

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, résumé, 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.