Clarification from the agency

First area of consideration: CTAP, ICTAP Second area of consideration: Current permanent employees of Robley Rex Medical Center Third area of consideration: All other US Citizens DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

The incumbent is a Utility Systems Repairer Operator in the Plant Operations unit of the Maintenance and Operations Section of the Engineering Service. Major duties include:

• Must possess or within 90 days of start date obtain an E.P.A. Universal Certification
• Periodically makes the rounds of the Steam Boiler Plant, Air Conditioning Plant, fuel storage tanks, and roof-top cooling towers to visually check all related plant equipment
• Digitally control all air handling equipment impacting temperature and humidity; steam supplied for sterilization, laundry production, building heating, and cooking; chilled water production for air conditioning; and remote operation of the 500,000-gallon emergency water supply tower.
• Check the plants and operating machinery throughout station, from the air conditioning plant at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of each shift
• Maintain constant observation of electronic, hydraulic, and pneumatic controls, and zone charts in connection with meters, gauges, and computer-generated data
• Responsible for maintaining the complete water treatment program
• Required to perform all plant housekeeping tasks (sweeping, mopping, waxing, etc.) in plants, machinery rooms, and storage areas
• Monitor the Facility Simplex Fire Alarm System, Medical Gas Alarms, Building Automation Systems, Monochloramine levels, and the Energy Management System used throughout the campus
• All other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Sat-Sun 1800-0600 rotating weekends
Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Repairer-Operator/PD40390A
Physical Requirements: Requires walking, standing, climbing, bending, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling moderately heavy loads daily and occasionally heavy loads with risk of contact with chemicals and high-temperature piping. During nights, weekends, and irregular shifts where the incumbent maintains a sole watch over plant operations, the work can require sitting attentively for extended periods.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; including Resume, Transcripts, etc. is required
• Must possess or within 90 days of start date obtain an E.P.A. Universal Certification
• 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:

• Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair
• Interpret Instructions, Specifications (includes blueprint reading)
• Technical Practices
• Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment
• Without more than normal supervision

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/Working Conditions: This position frequently works in confined areas in and around boilers. This requires walking, standing, climbing, bending, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling moderately heavy loads daily and occasionally heavy loads with risk of contact with chemicals and high-temperature piping. During nights, weekends, and irregular shifts where the incumbent maintains a sole watch over plant operations, the work can require sitting attentively for extended periods. This position requires working overtime, rotation shifts, irregular tours in uncontrolled environments, confined spaces, working from ladders, rooftops, and catwalks, etc. The incumbent shall be subjected to a variety of hazards including temperature extremes, drafts, dampness, energized electrical circuits, high-pressure steam and scalding feed water, water treatment chemicals in concentrated form, liquid or gaseous refrigerants, loud noise. These hazards are encountered daily and require the incumbent to be familiar with safety precautions and personal protective equipment (PPE) including gloves; hard hat, safety shoes, safety glasses, and hearing protection to prevent injury or him or herself. He or she may be required to employ fall protection, confined-space extraction equipment, and respiratory protection.

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.

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.

Resume Reminder- ALTHOUGH NOT REQUIRED, ITS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT APPLICANTS COMPLETE THEIR RESUME' USING THE USAJOBS RESUME' BUILDER. Resume must include how to contact you phone number and/or email address. Resume Reminder - Your resume must include the following information for each job listed: (REQUIRED)
(1.) Employer's Name
(2.) Employer's City and State
(3.) Job title (Federal jobs must be separated by title and grade level(s))
(4.) Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
(5.) Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week...i.e. 40 hours per week, 32 hours per week, 20 hours per week, etc.
(6.) Duties
(7.) Details of your experience and clearly document your ability to demonstrate the KSAs of grade level you are applying for.

Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we can fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy.

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. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Documents Accepted:

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• E.P.A. Universal Certification
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

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. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.

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

Next steps