Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. Veterans are encouraged to apply and will receive full consideration. All U.S. Citizens, National or those who owe allegiance to the United States of America.

This is an Permanent Intermittent Appointment.

The position is under the close supervision of the Supervisory Medical Supply Technician and is accountable to the Chief, SPS through the Assistant Chief, SPS. The Supervisor and/or Service Chief/Assistant Chief will assign work with standing instructions on objectives, priorities, deadlines, and provides guidance for unusually involved situations. The employee will work as a team member with other Medical Supply Technicians of various experience to carry out the daily workload utilizing the written standard operating procedures and/or manufacturers written instructions in accordance with instructions, policies, previous training, or accepted standard practices. The supervisor evaluates completed work for overall technical soundness and conformance to agency policies through competency assessment utilizing simulation, direct observation and verbal responses from the incumbent.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Per VHA Directive 1116(2), chapter 7a and d, All new Medical Supply Technicians must complete Level I training within 90 days of hire. Additionally, all Medical Supply Technicians must participate in continuing education such as, computer-based training, or in-service education sessions leading to 12 education hours annually. Level 2 training will be completed as soon as possible.
• Collects and receives contaminated critical and semi-critical RME in the decontamination area and may receive noncritical equipment in the decontamination area as well.
• Inspects packages for indications of proper sterilization.
• Recognizes basic instruments though knowledge or use of available resources to accurately assemble basic surgical trays.
• Performs environmental maintenance duties, assists in maintaining inventory levels.
• Transports items including RME to clinical areas.
• Recognizes abnormal workings of equipment and alarm conditions to leads or supervisors to make necessary adjustments to complex decontamination and sterilization equipment.
• Maintains clean clutter free work environment including but not limited to appropriate par levels, replacing loose instrumentation in appropriate storage locations, scanning trays following policy and procedures to appropriate storage location and putting trays in correct location.
• Provides customer service by fielding requests from end-users. Consistently demonstrates effective customer service by interacting with co-workers, staff, patients, visitors, students, and volunteers in a courteous and professional manner.

Work Schedule: Intermittent tours of duty varies.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:608-F03526
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Notifications:

• This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
• This position is not in an Bargaining Union.
• This position is covered by a Special Salary Rate.
• This is an intermittent position.
• Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• 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: Medical Supply Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English.

• Experience and/or Education:
  • 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.

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 Determination:

GS-06 Experience: (Full Performance Level) -One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-05). Duties may include, but are not limited to: Removes soil, blood, tissue fragments, body fluids, and other containments by wiping, soaking, rinsing, and scrubbing. Inspects packages for indications of proper sterilization, assembles basic sets and trays used throughout the medical center including those used in the operating room. Prepares, loads, and operates sterilizers such as steam, VPRO, Steris, and a high level disinfecting scope reprocessor; prepares operating room case carts daily using surgery schedule.

In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs below:

• Knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings.
• Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination.
• Working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical conditions and procedures.
• Knowledge of sterility principles in regards to instrumentation.
• Ability to read and interpret written instructions and procedures.

Preferred Experience: CRCST,CER OR CIS Certification and Sterile Processing Technician with 3+ years of experience working in Sterile Processing Field in the areas of decontamination, prep, assembly, sterilization, and all aspects of high level disinfection.

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-06.

Physical Requirements: Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes incumbent to biohazards, hazardous chemicals, and hazardous medications common in a health care environment. Such exposure will be mitigated, in accordance with local policies and operating procedures, as per USP800 standards, OSHA guidance, and local risk assessment practices. Standard safety precautions and PPE are required and specified per local policies.

This 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 45 pounds). The work 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, and personal protective equipment and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm. The employee uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers. The employee is subject to burns from accidentally touching hot items. The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gasses are unknown. The employee 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 reusable medical equipment. The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment.

In the performance of official duties, the employee must be able to utilize office automation equipment, personal computers, bar code scanners, fax and copier machines and CENSITRAC software programs, and possesses the ability to apply skills to ever changing office/inventory technologies. The employee must be proficient in utilizing the CENSITRAC and other VA automated systems.

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, 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.

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.
Resume Reminder: Your resume must include the following information each job listed:

1. Job title
2. Duties (be as detailed as possible)
3. Month & year/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
4. Full-time or part-time (include hours worked per week)

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.

Please be aware that your answers well be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

Accepted Documents:

• Cover Letter
• CRCST or CSPDT or or equivalent
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility within one year):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veteran Preference: OCHCO Bulletin Subject: Annual Determination of Staffing Shortages, dated October 3, 2023. Although hybrid title 38 occupations follow title 5 Veterans' preference rules, as required by the Merit Systems Protection Board (Graves v. VA, 117 M.S.P.R. 697 (2012)), 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference to external applicants for appointments made during the fiscal year to hybrid title 38 occupations among those reported to have the largest staffing shortages.

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