Healthcare Engineer

Summary

The position provides engineering support to the assigned healthcare system and is responsible for maintaining construction specifications and drawings, maintaining technical reference library of codes, standards, and other regulations which are applicable to the engineering construction industries Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and others.

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Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The position serves as program engineer consisting of the planning, design, and overseeing of major healthcare system projects; oversees Professional Architecture/Engineering (A/E) and Construction contracts to ensure the contractor is in compliance with all contractual requirements, healthcare regulations and codes, specifications and schedules are met in accordance with the government's requirements for VA owned and leased facilities. Duties for the position may include but are not limited to:

• Determines the requirements for healthcare projects in relation to the needs of the Healthcare System, inclusive of the parent site, as well as off-site locations under the auspice of the Healthcare System, whether VA owned or leased.
• Provides in-depth reviews on all design submissions to include healthcare code compliance and references within the documents for regulations and codes applied to healthcare.
• Plays an essential role in resolving conflicts in designs and in the construction field to reduce and prevent large cost and time impacts for projects while ensuring the project VA standards and adopted codes.
• Performs evaluations on medical care programs and services to ensure assigned projects are aligned and support the healthcare organization's needs and requirements for expansion of service and/or efficient flow of operation.
• Position develops initial concept documents, creates and maintains project and lease applications in multiple VA database systems, such as the Veterans Support Service Center (VSSC), Strategic Capital Investment Planning Tool, and Capital Assets Inventory. Tracks and manages the status, changes and updates to projects over their life cycle.
• Coordinates construction activities for a wide range and variety of interrelated systems and services. Coordinates and monitors planning and answers design problems for the multi-disciplinary projects including all components of the project life cycle from initial planning and concept to design to construction, project completion and warranty periods.
• Performs an array of pre-planning activities that include coordinating cross-departmental planning meetings, developing Scopes of Work, conceptual project designs, and government cost estimates, and ensures project documents are produced in accordance with VA Contracting and Information Security requirements.
• Develops specifications and plans for alterations, additions to existing buildings, grounds, utility plants and systems, as well as for preparing the site for the installation of highly complex medical equipment ranging from smaller Ultrasound type equipment to larger Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) type equipment.
• Reviewing contractor submittals, contractor change order requests, assuring project compliance with drawings and specifications, administering A/E and VA Headquarters review processes, assuring safety practices, and making sound engineering recommendations to appropriate leadership for action.

Work Schedule : Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Supervisor Discretion.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 03882F, 03883F, 03884F, 03885F

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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 ( 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• 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.

**Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement as well as through the assessment.

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: Healthcare Engineer candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Education and Experience: Must possess any of the following:
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be from a school with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Engineering Accreditation Commission (excludes engineering technology) or National Council of Architectural Registration Boards curriculum. Examples of acceptable engineering and architectural degrees include, but are not limited to: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Architectural Engineering. Titles may vary from educational institutions and change over time; OR
  • Evidence of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination with a bachelor's degree. Evidence can be in the form of an Engineering in Training certificate issued from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico, or test results from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) identifying a passing score; OR
  • Evidence of current professional registration or licensure as a Professional Engineer or Architect. Evidence of current professional registration or licensure can be from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, engineering, architecture or related education completed outside the U.S. must be submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to a Bachelor's degree as outlined in paragraph 3.b. of this appendix.

Grandfathering Provision. All individuals working at VHA in this occupational series, or in another series performing the duties described in the qualification standard as of its effective date, are considered to meet all qualification requirements for their current grade, including any positive education that is part of the basic requirements. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements now but qualified when they were appointed, the following rules apply:

• Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
• Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
• Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
• Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Grade Determinations : Healthcare Engineer, GS-07

Experience: None beyond the basic requirements.

Healthcare Engineer, GS-09

Experience or Education: Candidates at this level must meet one of the following:

• (a) One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR
• (b) Master of Engineering degree or Master of Architecture degree or Master of Science degree in Engineering or a related field of study as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1); OR
• (c) Bachelor's degree as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1) plus two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the core competencies for GS-09 level assignment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

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

• Knowledge of the principles, theories, concepts and practices of the engineering profession.
• Ability to interpret relevant codes, regulations, guidelines and standards to make recommendations to assure compliance with healthcare facility programs.
• Ability to understand the operational professional engineering needs of clinical services in the healthcare system.
• Ability to prepare material on current technical topics and trends for presentation to other technical staff and mid-level hospital management and to keep abreast of changes in engineering technology related to a healthcare facility.

Healthcare Engineer, GS-11

Experience or Education: Candidates at this level must meet one of the following:

• (a) One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR
• (b) Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in Engineering or a related field of engineering as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1); OR
• (c) Master of Engineering degree, Master of Architecture degree, Master of Science degree in Engineering or a related field of study as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1), plus 1 full year of progressively higher-level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities for GS-11 level assignment; OR
• (d) Bachelor's degree as outlined in paragraph 3.b.(1) plus 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education in a related field of study, provided the applicant's total background demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities for GS-11 level assignment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

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

• Knowledge of either mechanical, electrical, structural, civil or other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications in the healthcare environment.
• Knowledge of basic project management principles as applied to the healthcare setting.
• Ability to apply healthcare engineering related standards, codes, policies and regulations, inclusive of, state and local codes.
• (Ability to communicate effective orally and in writing with internal and external customers with tact and diplomacy.

Healthcare Engineer, GS-12

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

In addition to meeting the experience requirements for this grade level, the candidate must fully demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, structural, civil and other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications in the healthcare environment.
• Knowledge of healthcare industry standards and related regulatory agency and organization (including, but not limited to The Joint Commission (TJC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), etc.) regulations, requirements, guides, policies, procedures, directives, standards and general medical program requirements as they relate to healthcare engineering.
• Knowledge of construction standards, methods, practices and techniques, materials and equipment to determine compliance with engineering regulations and standards.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

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.

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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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.

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