Utility Systems Operator

Summary

The Utility System Operator (USO) is assigned to the Utility Plant, in Facilities Management Service, at the Erie VA Medical Center.

The USO is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and safe operation of 3 Williams & Davis gas/oil combination boilers, producing steam

capacity of 6,900 LBS/HR (1) and 13,800 (2) each; and (2) each 600-ton centrifugal chillers The USO monitors alarms for various systems including medical gas, generators, refrigerator/freezers, and engineering control systems.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

Work Schedule: Will vary 1st, 2nd and 3rd shift, Sunday - Saturday

Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Operator/PD02177A

Major Duties include but not limited to:

• Responsible for maintenance, repair, and safe operation of three Williams and Davis gas/oil combination boilers, Models (1) 4200-200S and (2) 4400-200S producing steam capacity of 6,900 LBS/HR (1) and 13,800 (2) each; and (2) each 600 ton centrifugal chillers York OPTI-View computer controls.
• Monitor all medical gas alarms and energy management system alarms and make educated judgment calls for notification to proper personnel.
• Use electronic, hydraulic, mechanical and pneumatic controls in conjunction with meters, gauges, and computer-generated data to determine adjustments or corrections necessary for proper boiler operations or changing load requirements.
• Adjust fuel feeds and the volume and velocity of draft and other fire box variables to achieve maximum combustion efficiency with changing load demands or variations in fuel.
• Operate emergency electrical generator to meet plant electrical requirements when the main electrical source is unable to provide the necessary power.
• Operate a chiller plant that is physically connected to the Boiler plant. Consisting of two 600-ton York centrifugal chillers. Perform all necessary operations to maintain the chiller plant and associated equipment, such as Condenser water pumps, chilled water pumps, condenser water cooling towers, pump and fan VFD's.
• Responsible for testing and analyzing boiler feed water, boiler water, condensate return water, chilled water, and chiller condenser water using standard chemical tests.
• Tests, adjust, maintain, and repair boiler safety devices such as flame safeguard systems, pressure switches, pressure differential switches, limit switches, timers, water column safety devices, electric/electronic probes and sensors, steam safety valves, and automatic/manual fuel valves.
• Visually inspect boiler settings and refractory linings for signs of deterioration and failure due to heat stress.
• Through the use of manual, automatic, semi-automatic, microprocessor controls or systems, the incumbent monitors, adjusts and controls all phases of boiler plant operations.
• Use electronic, hydraulic, and pneumatic controls, charts, recorders, meters, gauges, and computer-generated data to determine adjustments or corrections necessary for proper boiler operations or changing load requirements.
• Use tools such as manometers, multi-meters, combustion analyzers, test gauges, infrared thermometer to maintain, calibrate, and repair safety devices. Incumbent operates, adjusts, maintains and repairs auxiliary plant equipment.
• Repair, troubleshoot and maintain boilers and auxiliary equipment. Auxiliary equipment may include fuel delivery systems, de-aerating equipment, water treatment equipment, and air compressors that often require regular adjustment and maintenance to meet rigid tolerances.
• Monitor and test the operation of boiler systems in order to identify malfunctions and potential problems with equipment such as automatic controls, valves, piping, pumps, and related components. Perform preventative, scheduled, and emergency
  maintenance on equipment including boiler feed water pumps, fuel oil pumps, air compressors, automatic controls, valves, piping, pumps, plant electrical systems and related components and other boiler plant systems. Will maintain burner management control systems including electronic and electro-mechanical controls utilizing ultra-violet, and related testing devices.
• Devices repaired and maintained are characterized by electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or electronic systems with interrelated functions that require the incumbent to deal with all aspects of an integrated assembly to successfully complete work on any of the components. Items serviced are characterized by a variety of data-sensing units, computing assemblies, actuating mechanisms, display indicators, and related controls that are collectively combined and integrated into a complete unit of information gathering devices.
• Apply broad experience and specialized knowledge of electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, and/or hydraulic theory and a working knowledge of electronics to diagnose, isolate, and repair malfunctions, and to achieve and maintain critical accuracies, sensitivity levels, and precise tolerances in aligning and adjusting complex instrument systems, components, and mechanisms.
• Work from manufacturers' technical information sources and operating instructions that may be vague or incomplete.
• Other duties as assigned.

Physical Requirements : See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

Requirements

Help

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 (
• 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.

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 (other than blueprint reading)
• Operation of Equipment/Machinery
• Technical Practices
• 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.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

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.

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

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.

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.

Help

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.