Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

This position is located at the Joliet CBOC located in Joliet, IL. The work involves testing, maintaining, troubleshooting, repairing, operations, and documenting all low pressure/ hot water boilers and associated systems on campus and air conditioning related equipment.

Boiler Plant Duties:

• Test, maintain, troubleshoot, repair, and document all low pressure/ hot water boilers and associated systems on campus. Incumbent works from oral instructions, blueprints, work orders, SOPs, and directives and policies.
• Complete all required boiler safety device testing for the low pressure/ hot water boilers.
• Incumbent will take readings every 4 hours, monitoring chemical levels and adjusting the chemical makeup, adjusting the boiler settings and operation.
• Perform preventive maintenance inspection of low pressure/hot water boilers and auxiliary equipment and make minor repairs and adjustments to prevent break down and to increase efficiency equipment.

Air Conditioning Equipment Duties:

• Responds to emergency calls such as no heat or other troubles during operation and diagnose troubles and make necessary adjustments or repairs.
• Respond to outbuilding trouble calls, domestic hot and cold-water systems, troubleshoot, repair, and maintain HVAC equipment.
• Perform the full range of operations, maintenance and repair of steam and hot water boilers, chillers, air handlers, including related equipment and systems throughout the campus.
• Conduct inspections of the facilities and equipment to ensure all meet OSHA, Life Safety, Joint Commission and industry standards.

Pipefitter Duties:

• Repairs high pressure Johnson control valves, high pressure heat exchangers, check valves, pack high pressure gate valves, repairs high pressure bolted flanges, expansion joints, expansion tanks, fan coils, convectors, automatic relief valves, gauges, and other monitoring equipment.
• Install and repair high pressure circulating and condensate lines and pumps, tests systems and equipment on completion of repair or modification to insure proper operation. Is sometimes required to make emergency repairs on high temperature and high-pressure hot water systems.
• Works on piping from size 1/8" to 12" diameter; installs steam radiators, fins, Modine Heating Units, and other types of heating systems. Is responsible for the maintenance and repair of high-pressure steam traps and steam operated coils.
• Drain and refill piping risers for maintenance work.

Work Schedule: To be discussed in interviews. The shift will be rotating and includes holidays and weekends.
Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Repairer-Operator/PD13158A

Physical Requirements: Work assignments require high physical effort. The employee is frequently required to perform heavy lifting up to 50 pounds. They are continually required to stand while working and must frequently climb ladders and scaffolds. Frequent standing, walking, bending, crouching, reaching, and stooping is required. Routine climbing and work in high places on ladders and roof tops is be required.

Working Conditions: Work involves frequently climbs ladders and scaffolding and works in awkward positions. Assists in lifting and carrying assemblies to be installed. Subject to the hazards of the trade such as cuts, bruises, dust, dirt danger of falls from ladders or scaffolds, eye and hand injuries when working with power equipment or occasionally subject to work in foul air where animals or pets have been kept. May work on "locked" wards and contagious wards. May be exposed to moderate or high noise levels, sawdust, various fumes, and other hazards. May work outdoors and on buildings and may be exposed to inclement weather.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; including Resume, Transcripts, etc. is required
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

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:


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.

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.

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.

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.

Documents Accepted:

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Resume

Documents Required:

• Resume

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.

Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply.

Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

Next steps