Summary
The Maintenance Mechanic Leader is located at the Syracuse VA Medical Center. The primary purpose of this position it to maintain and control a wide variety of critical utility systems and equipment required of the Medical Center's physical plant. The position reports to the Supervisory Facilities Operations Specialist and is assigned to the Operations Section of Facilities Management Service. The position assumes all responsibilities of the supervisor in their absence.
This job is open to
Internal to an agency
Current federal employees of the hiring agency that posted the job announcement.
Clarification from the agency
This position is open to current and permanent employees within the Facilities Management Service of the Syracuse VA Medical Center only. Only current and permanent employees within the Facilities Management Service of the Syracuse VA Medical Center will be considered.
Duties
The work involves ensuring and demonstrating proper work methods for installing, modifying, repairing and maintaining new and existing high, medium and low-pressure stream piping systems and equipment such as steam heating, steam generation, condensate, vacuum, circulating pumps and radiators. In addition to installing, modifying, repairing new and existing utility, supply, and disposal systems and equipment such as sewage, water, natural gas distribution systems as well as piped medical gas systems including medical air, vacuum, oxygen, and nitrous oxide. Incumbent will lead a work group consisting of 2 Maintenance Mechanics and/or and one Utility Systems Repairer/Operator. Duties will include but are not limited to:
- Passing onto AC Equipment Mechanics and USRO team members the instructions received from the supervisor
- Working along with team members and setting the pace
- Seeing to it that needed plans, blueprints, materials and tools are available and that needed stock is obtained from supply locations
- Obtaining needed information or decisions from the supervisor on problems that come up during the work
- Retaining a current knowledge and answering questions on problems of others on procedures, policies, written instructions and other directives, such as technical orders, training requirements
- Adjusting workloads so there is enough work to keep everyone busy
- Checking work while in progress and when finished to see whether the supervisor's instructions on work sequences, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met
- Urging or advising others to follow instructions received from the supervisor to meet deadlines
- Assuring that safety and housekeeping rules are followed and assuring that limits of save machine operation are not exceeded and that all tools are stored and used properly
- Answering questions of the Supervisor on overall work operations and problems concerning additional on-the-job training requirements for individual employees
- Other duties as assigned
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Position Description Title/PD#: Maintenance Mechanic Lead/PD01718O
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
- Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- You may be required to serve a probationary period
- Subject to a background/security investigation
- Pre-employment physical required
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/12/2025.
EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards.
SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements:
- Civil Engineering
- Electric Drawings
- Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair
- Multimedia Technologies
- Technical Problem Solving
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: Required to work in confined areas in and around boilers, air handling units and support equipment. The work requires moderate to strenuous efforts and long periods of walking, climbing, crouching and bending. Incumbent frequently hurries to address emergencies to avoid the possibility of loss of steam header pressure or utility outages. Incumbent is also exposed to light to strenuous effort in turning valves and operating controls, occasional stacking and moving machinery parts for dismantling and inspecting machinery. Workers frequently carry equipment and supplies weighing up to 40 lbs unassisted, occasionally items weighing over 40 lbs with the assistance of weight-lifting equipment and/or other workers.
Working Conditions :Duties are performed in a modern plant and facility. There is continuous noise from equipment and machinery. May be required to work in confined spaces, climb ladders and scaffolding, stand for extended periods of time, excessive walking and crawling may be required. Expected to work outside in inclement weather when necessary and work on or near high temperature machinery and equipment.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Additional information
Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.
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.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
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.
Financial disclosure not required.
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.
If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.
Required Documents
Documents Required:
- Resume
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Documents Accepted:
- Resume
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application. Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 12/12/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12847562.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.
Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration.
Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
- Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
- Use concise, results focused language
- Align language from the job announcement
- Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
- Remove outdated or unrelated experience
- Use the USAJOBS resume builder
Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click
Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.