Summary

Serves as the Chief, Occupational Safety Service for the VA Portland Health Care System (HCS). The HCS is comprised of two large divisions with one Medical Center located in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Responsible for all areas of the HCS involving a wide variety of high-risk operations, facilities, and environmental conditions.

**Recruitment/Relocation Incentives MAY be available to highly qualified candidates**

Duties

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Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• The incumbent serves as the Chief, Occupational Safety Service for VAPORHCS. The incumbent is responsible for directing, planning, developing and implementing comprehensives programs for Safety, Fire Protection, Green Environmental Management Systems (GEMS), Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health, Laser Safety, and Radiation Safety Programs.
• The incumbent oversees, monitors and evaluates occupational health and safety activities, administratively manages the overall facility Occupational Health Section clinical staff and safety programs to provide the patients, visitors and staff of VAPORHCS with the highest attainable level of safety possible and identifies opportunities for improvement through an ongoing effort of problem identification, evaluation, resolution, monitoring and evaluation. The incumbent is responsible for the supervision, planning, and direction of work operations and for directing daily operational activities including direct supervision interventions and has full responsibility for assuring efficient and economical work operations including planning the accomplishment of major and complex work operations on a long-range basis and participating in establishing long range goals and facility planning.
• In managing the Safety personnel resources, the incumbent must be creative, tactful, fair, and impartial. To effectively meet the needs of the HCS, it is necessary to establish a constructive workplace environment that maximizes morale and efficiency. The incumbent will periodically hold staff meetings to solicit the flow of ideas and suggestions. Additionally, the incumbent will encourage and support on-the job training and broaden incumbent training to provide back-up skills by cross-training.
• The incumbent maintains accountability for developing, implementing, managing, and monitoring a comprehensive Safety Program as defined by agency policy which meets the Safety, OSHA, NFPA, and Life Safety requirements of both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Joint Commission. These exacting standards emphasize integration of Safety Management and clinical responsibilities, and a closed loop, safety cycle of communication and documentation for significant safety issues and incidents.
• The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Program Manager serves as the principal source of technical expertise in the Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Environment of Care (Safety), and Fire Protection program areas for VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) providing healthcare services to diverse client groups. The OSH Program Managers leadership is characterized by substantial and continuous responsibility and accountability for directing/managing an integrated Occupational Safety and Health program.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm, PST

Telework: Not available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager/PD216130

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives:MAY be authorized for highly qualified applicants

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

**Recruitment/Relocation & PCS Incentives MAY be available to highly qualified candidates**

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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)

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

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade, basic requirements and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 10/07/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

Basic Requirement: All applicants must meet the basic requirements as listed below:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. OR

Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements; Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management; Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements; Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards; Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses; Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards; Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards; Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards; Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects; Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

In addition to the basic requirements, applicants must meet the grade specific requirements listed below:

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Substantial and continuous responsibility and accountability for directing/managing an integrated Occupational Safety and Health program; plans, directs, monitors, coordinates and evaluates a comprehensive agency safety, industrial hygiene, and fire protection program; planning, designing, integrating, implementing, modifying and administration of an Occupational Safety and Health Program; prepares of technical documents and guidance materials to support safety and occupational program implementation; identifies specific hazardous conditions that require in-depth analysis and subsequent implementation of measures to control or eliminate unsafe conditions. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week.

Preferred Experience:

• 5 years experience in comprehensive occupational safety and health program in a hospital setting with a focus on fire/life safety, environment of care, emergency management, industrial hygiene, and radiation/hazardous materials safety.
• Three plus (3+) years experience in a leadership position in safety and occupational health, overseeing daily operations and staff performance.
• Experience developing, implementing, and evaluating facility-wide safety policies and programs, providing expert consultation to hospital leadership and clinical services on safety and risk mitigation.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition R