Duties
The TCF career fields represent those technical fields where VA-specific knowledge and experience is desirable for success in the field. Individuals selected follow a formal training plan for two years during which they are trained, coached, and supervised by a preceptor. Preceptors are selected annually, through an extensive application process, for their technical expertise, their commitment to training and the suitability of their facility as a training location. *Selectees will be required to sign Mobility, Training, and Continued Service Agreements.
Duties include but are not limited to:
- Uses equipment instruction sheets, blueprints, drawings, and oral or written instructions.
- Skill to read and interpret results of devices such as gauges and meters.
- After normal business hours, the operator will also receive calls normally directed to FMS tradesmen at home and perform first response actions throughout the campus, correcting problems if reasonably simple and can be safely addressed.
- The incumbent assists in the collection of boiler, condensate, feed, and soft water samples and conducts water tests; analyzes results determining acidity, causticity, and alkalinity by using prescribed reagents, color slides, or other standards.
- Calculates treatment requirements, making determination of required chemicals to be added to boilers and de-aerating tank to treat water or control corrosion/scale formation.
- Uses equipment instruction sheets, blueprints, drawings, and oral or written instructions.
- Skill and ability to use varied hand/power tools and practice good Boiler Plant Operator care/maintenance.
- The incumbent assists in making periodic visual checks of equipment to ensure proper operation
- Uses varied hand and power tools in maintaining systems/equipment and making minor repairs or adjustments.
- The incumbent learns system/equipment repairs or adjustments noting technical difficulties in system/equipment operations.
- The incumbent assists in work that involves installing, recognizing the problem or cause of faulty equipment, and making repairs on a variety of electric and gas hot water boilers and their compressors, condensers, coils, fans, electrical/air operated control systems.
- The incumbent assists in performing the installation, modifications, and repairs to high temperature-high pressure piping systems and equipment such as hot water systems, steam heating systems and equipment, electric and gas hot water boilers, condensate lines, heating coils, radiators, and convectors, steam traps, valves, water softening equipment, and other related components.
- The incumbent assists in the inspecting, adjusting, and repair of all boiler controls safety devices, instrumentation, and flow meters.
- Incumbent learns the use of tools such as manometers, multi-meters, combustion analyzers, test gauges, infrared thermometers, and dead-weight testers.
- Measures/treats boiler water with chemicals to control corrosion or scale.
- Responsible for developing a good working knowledge of the Department of Veterans Affairs boiler safety directive 1810 and other applicable VA policies and procedures.
- Uses working knowledge of the National Plumbing Code and United Buildings Code governing the pipe fitting and plumbing duties.
- Working knowledge of how various high temperature/pressure piping systems and equipment are installed and operated.
- Use proper materials and have knowledge of various codes or procedures to complete the jobs in order to layout a job.
- Calculates treatment requirements, making determination of required chemicals to be added to boilers and de-aerating tank to treat water or control corrosion/scale formation.
- The incumbent will learn to install, modify, and repair by setting up piping routes and equipment locations, placing and cutting openings in floors, walls, and ceilings that may be constructed of concrete, wood, plaster and metal.
Work Schedule: Sunday to Saturday, Rotating Shifts: 8am to 4pm, 4pm to 12am, and 12am to 8am.
Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Repairer-Operator Helper (TCF Trainee)/PD806440
Requirements
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
- 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.
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.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
TCF is a national workforce development program within VHA that was designed to replenish technical staff in critically identified positions. The TCF career fields represent those technical fields where VA-specific knowledge and experience is desirable for success in the field. Individuals selected follow a formal training plan for 2 years during which they are trained, coached, and supervised by a preceptor. Preceptors are selected annually, through an extensive application process, for their technical expertise, their commitment to training and the suitability of their facility as a training location. *Selectees will be required to sign Mobility, Training, and Continued Service Agreements.
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:
- Distributed Systems
- Electronics
- Fine Arts
- Shop Aptitude
- Without more than normal supervision
SCREEN OUT: Must have the ability to perform the most difficult and complex in the areas such as automatic/manual gas/oil fired fire tube high pressure boilers and auxiliary equipment sufficient to operate, maintain, test, and repair a complete boiler plant steam generating system; knowledge of water softening systems sufficient to operate and maintain system including conduct of periodic water testing, regeneration, and backwashing; Knowledge of basic operations of station fire alarm control panel equipment and related emergency procedures; Knowledge of boiler water treatment and water sample collecting techniques sufficient to perform chemical tests to determine alkalinity, acidity, or causticity; analyzes results and causticity; Knowledge of functions, operations, and maintenance requirements of a wide variety of flow meters, recorders, charts, meters, gauges, alarms, and signals reflecting steam production, demand, and pressure; fuel use; fuel/air ratio; excess air boiler steam, and water temperatures; boiler water level; make-up demand; and stack gas composition.
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 Effort: Work requires moderate to heavy physical exertion (40 pounds) while lifting, transporting, carrying, pulling, moving, handling, or setting up Ladders, scaffolds, materials, tools, equipment, etc. Repairs, maintenance, and/or observation work requires kneeling, stretching, pushing, pulling, crouching, stooping, bending, climbing, and walking/standing for long periods of time and negotiating confined spaces. Works from ladder, scaffold, platform, ground level, or hard to reach places requiring climbing ladders, reaching over and under while in cramped, awkward, tiring, and/or uncomfortable positions. Uses hand, eye, leg, and body coordination while performing assigned work.
Working Conditions:The incumbent works indoors in adequately lighted and ventilated conditions. The BPO is exposed to high ambient temperatures from boilers and equipment noise. Danger of boiler bursts; gas line ruptures; carbon monoxide poisoning; scalds/burns; gas, oil, or sulfur fumes; water treatment test chemicals; and/or hazards of working with large scale combustion processes, steam under high pressure vessels, or moving machinery. Works recurring rotational shift assignments including nights, weekends, and holidays proving continuous 7 day 24-hours coverage.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Additional information
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
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.
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.
Required Documents
Documents Accepted:
- Cover Letter
- DD-214/ Statement of Service
- Disability Letter (VA)
- PCS Orders
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Documents Required:
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.