Summary

This position serves as the Deputy (Assistant Chief), Engineering Service as the full alter ego of the Chief with responsibility for the professional Engineering programs such as Maintenance and Repair, Utility Plant Operations, Energy Management and Conservation Program, Fire Prevention, Vehicle Fleet, Grounds, Capital Planning, and Construction Project Management section at a multi-faceted and affiliated VA Medical Center, including outlying Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major Duties include but are not limited to:

• Responsible for strengthening and enhancing healthcare facility engineering and operations.
• Acts in the full authority and capacity of the Chief in his/her absence, and is relied on for authoritative advice on all aspects of engineering matters.
• Advises in all or almost all significant management planning, policy, and decision-making actions of the Medical Center except those of a primarily medical nature.
• Responsible for long and short-range planning, establishing policy, and budgeting for the Medical Center, as well as for all Engineering Service programs.
• Provides management support and technical expert consultation to the Chief Engineer for all issues relative to the areas listed above.
• Provides for the budgeting and financial management for Engineering Service.
• Provides advice to management and program personnel on budgetary and finance issues.
• Researches and/or analyzes problems, issues, or program requirements related to all areas of the facility and all facets of Engineering Service.
• Provides expert analysis and advice on complex program issues.
• Researches and provides technical recommendations pertaining to a wide-range of national codes and standards including but not limited to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), OSHA, TJC, EPA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
• Plans and/or accomplishes special projects.
• Manages special projects for major office or program issues of broad impact.
• Assists the VISN offices and other engineers by providing technical advice and input on a wide range of engineering issues, including the Strategic Capital Investment Plan, Capital Asset Inventory, Capital Asset Resource Survey, Deferred Maintenance, management of an engineering department, and a myriad of engineering related topics.
• Develops and maintains performance monitoring, tracking and reporting systems.
• Provides professional advice to peers, including other engineers in the VISN; subordinates; and non-professional administrators or managers.
• Reviews or directs the review of plans, specifications, and analyses of design as submitted by subordinate engineers and engineering technicians.
• Coordinates and oversees scheduling and layout of operations, inspection and surveillance of materials, methods, and equipment used in construction and renovation managed by subordinate engineers and engineering technicians.
• Prepares correspondence, technical reports, estimates, fact sheets, status reports, and schedules as required to complete project assignments.
• Consults with contractor personnel to resolve difficult and complex unforeseen problems and latent conditions encountered during construction.
• Prepares sketches or changes drawings and specifications to solve the problem and incorporates these changed documents into the contract performance documents.
• Reviews and evaluates shop drawings, samples, and material certifications submitted by contractor for contract and performance requirements; recommending approval, rejection, or receipt.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

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.

Requirements

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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 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.
• 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 evaluation/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 - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Education (must meet one of the following):
  
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be from a school with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Engineering Accreditation Commission (excludes engineering technology) or National Council of Architectural Registration Boards curriculum. Examples of acceptable engineering and architectural degrees include, but are not limited to: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Architectural Engineering. Titles may vary from educational institutions and change over time; OR
  • Evidence of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination with a bachelor's degree. Evidence can be in the form of an Engineering in Training certificate issued from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico, or test results from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) identifying a passing score; OR
  • Evidence of current professional registration or licensure as a Professional Engineer or Architect. Evidence of current professional registration or licensure can be from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico.

NOTE: Direct health care experience is not required to qualify for a GS-801 Healthcare Engineer. Candidates with Engineering experience in a hospital or healthcare system should be able to address the knowledge skills and abilities as it applies to the position. Engineers that may not have worked in a hospital or healthcare system should ensure it is clear in their application how their non-healthcare related knowledge, skill or ability can be applied to the assignment and to the healthcare engineering occupation.

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).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above, the following experience criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Healthcare Engineer - Deputy, GS-13.

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade, GS-12.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to meeting the experience requirements for this grade level, the candidate must fully demonstrate the following KSAs:
  
  • Knowledge of the management of overall healthcare system resources, (i.e., finances, space, equipment, supplies, schedules and staffing).
  • Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, structural, civil and other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications as related to healthcare facilities.
  • Skill in using effective communication in managing interpersonal relationships with internal and external customers, stakeholders, executive leadership, labor representatives and managers.
  • Skill in balancing priorities, delegating tasks and meeting multiple competing deadlines.
  • Skill in interpreting broad or general national policies and guidelines and adapting/applying them to specific compliant programs at the local healthcare system.
  • Skill in recognizing and assessing evolving scenarios, utilizing initiative, self-direction and assigned resources to affect resolutions.
  • Ability to analyze complex organizational problems and develop and implement effective solutions that result in efficient operations.
  • Ability to anticipate, develop and implement strategies in meeting the healthcare system's short term and long-term strategic goals in a highly fluid environment.
  • Ability to ensure compliance with healthcare industry standards and regulatory agency and organization (including but not limited to TJC, OSHA, NFPA, etc.), regulations, requirements, guides, policies, procedures, directives and general medical program requirements as they relate to engineering.
  • Ability to interview candidates for positions, recommend appointments, advancements, or when appropriate, disciplinary actions; evaluate performance and identify continuing education and training needs.

Preferred Experience: Supervisory experience, Contracting Officer Representative experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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

This position is in the Excepted Service an