Clarification from the agency

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

This job is also open in another announcement to:

Internal to an agency

Medical Supply Aide and Technician: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Medical-Supply-Aide-Career-Flyer.pdf

At the journeymen level, duties include but are not limited to:

• Receive contaminated critical and semi-critical RMD in decontamination area and may receive noncritical equipment in the decontamination area as well.
• Disassembles the RMD and determines the correct cleaning method, such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners, mechanical washers, cart washer and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents as determined by manufactures instructions.
• Inspects, prepares, assembles and determines the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam, STERRAD, Steris, ETO and high-level disinfecting re-processors: may prepare operating room case carts daily utilizing surgery schedule.
• Removes soil, blood, tissue fragments, body fluids and other contaminants by wiping, soaking, rinsing and scrubbing.
• Inspects packages for indications of proper sterilization, assembles basic sets and trays throughout the medical center including those used in the operating room.
• Performs work pertaining to the decontamination, sterilization and inspection of trays for use in the medical center.
• Operate equipment involved in the sterilization process and may be required to prepare operating room case carts.
• Documents daily operational checks and records data for all sterilization equipment.

Work Schedule: Sunday- Thursday; 3:00PM - 11:30 PM & Tuesday - Saturday; 3:00 PM - 11:30 PM.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
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 #: 91618-A
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 dentification 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).
• 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. MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English
• Experience and/or Education:
  • Experience: Six (6) months of experience demonstrating the ability to perform the work or provide an understanding of the work; OR,
  • Education: One (1) year above high school that included at least six (6) semester hours in health care related course such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; OR,
  • Combination: A combination of the above prescribed experience and education.

Creditable Experience

1. Knowledge of Current MST Practices. 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. 3
2. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
3. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a MST is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a MST employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.

Grade Determinations:

GS-06 (Full Performance Level):

• Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in Federal service. Specialized experience may include, but is not limited to: Disassembling the RME and determining the correct cleaning method, such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners, mechanical washers, cart washers and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents, as determined by manufacturer instructions. Inspecting, assembling and determining the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam, Sterrad, Steris, ETO, and high level disinfecting scope reprocessors.
• Demonstrated KSAs: In addition to the above prescribed experience and/or education, applicants must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:
  1. Knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings.
  2. Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination.
  3. Possess working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical conditions and procedures.
  4. Possess knowledge of sterility principles in regards to instrumentation.
  5. Ability to read and interpret written instructions and procedures.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G47

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: Work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply (preparation), gastrointestinal intestinal endoscope reprocessing hub, and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus. May be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, drafty and poorly lighted. Requires proper body mechanics when standing for up to 8 hours per day and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages/instrument trays should height (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds). Requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation. On a regular and recurring basis, the employee alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment. The employee wears special clothing, hair covers, personal protective equipment and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm. Uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers, subject to burns form accidentally touching hot items. The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gases are unknown. Often works around body fluids, mucous, excretions and bits of tissue, some of which may be foul smelling. Strong, unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or RME. The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment. Will require reading on a computer screen and other documents. Corrected vision via glasses or contacts is appropriate and use of a hearing aid or other device to correct hearing to within normal adult frequencies is allowed and appropriate. Use of fingers to type on computer keyboard, sign documents, etc. is required.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Area of Consideration- Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Public Applicants

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.

Do not copy and paste duties, specialized experience, or information from the assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications. Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We cannot assume you have performed the necessary experience required for this position regardless of your employment history or academic career. To ensure all the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, ensure it contains all required information and organize it so we can associate the following information for each experience/position:

1. Job title
2. Name and address of employer
3. Beginning and ending dates of employment (month/day/year format)
4. Hours worked per week. Part-Time or PRN experience will be pro-rated.
5. Detailed description of job duties, accomplishments, related skills, and responsibilities to include any supervisory/managerial responsibilities and number of staff supervised, etc.
6. Series and grade or equivalent (if a federal position)

Do not include photographs or video of yourself, sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.

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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Other (1)
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: Veteran's preference does not apply to the 0622 occupational series per OCHCO Bulletin for the annual determination of staffing shortages as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7412 dated October 2024.

If you are a current permanent VA employee, you should apply under: CBSR-12842182-26-LLL

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