Interior Designer

Summary

The employee is responsible for implementation of the Interior Design Program in concert with other interior designers. The VA San Diego Healthcare System covers approximately 1 million square feet of space at the main hospital campus and associated leased community based outpatient clinics and administrative spaces.

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Duties

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As an Interior Designer, the employee is assigned the multiple, complex and frequently urgent design projects undertaken by the Projects Section. The employee works as a technical expert with technical independence under the general supervision of the Supervisor. Full technical responsibility is mandated in achieving an aesthetically pleasing and therapeutic environment of care for patients, visitors and staff in the healthcare system.

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Establishes and periodically updates a resource library of furnishings, office furniture, draperies, wall coverings, floor coverings, finishes, colors, fabrics., etc., from vendors and suppliers. Sources will include materials compliant with or support of Americans with Disability Act (ADA)guidelines, Occupational Safety and Health Program (OSHA) regulations or other ergonomic related issues.
• Prepares and oversees the preparation of vendor sketches, perspectives or detailed plans to scale showing color schemes, furniture, furnishings, and wall decor for all projects requiring interior design services.
• Selects all associated items including furniture, furnishings, wall decor, floor and wall finishes and signage. Employee ensure project related costs are maintained within budget.
• Monitors, modifies and maintains an overall directional graphics and standardized signage system for the healthcare system, utilizing consultants, contractors, and personal expertise to meet the requirements of the Directional Graphics Manual for VA Medical Centers.
• Provides scope and review to signage consultants as graphics relate to a hospital environment.
• Inspects the physical installation of products in construction and renovation projects related to interior design to ensure contractual compliance.
• Develops scopes, produces documentation, drawings, specifications, criteria and cost estimates necessary to procure services or products necessary to active program moves into new or renovated space.
• Prepares the interior design budget request individually or in cooperation with other interior designers.
• Prepares projects and cost estimate documents to be included in the five-year facility plan and for submissions to the Network and VACO for funding.
• Serves as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and administers contracted projects to insure contractor compliance with drawings, specifications, regulations, and policy. Conducts site visits during construction, prepares pre- and post-occupancy evaluation of site.
• Interacts daily with all levels of management in developing detailed projects requirements for a variety of services, ranging from general administrative, to specialized clinical needs.
• Routinely coordinates activities with such services as Environmental Management Service, Logistics, and Office of Information and Technology, and schedules both program moves and vendor services to minimize disruption to critical activities of the healthcare system.
• Required for perform furniture layout and design related to both interior design service requests, for interior design project support, and for activation to make spaces usable to clients.
• Uses the engineering work order system to manage requests from numerous services, ensures timely responses and documents completed actions.

Work Schedule: Intermittent M-Thur (0700-1530) Max 32 hours per week

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Interior Designer / PD12492A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Approved

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The employee will be conducting inspections and surveys of construction sites with a need for physical agility to access unfinished buildings and wear personal protective equipment (PPE). The employee must have the ability to work within an environment of conflicting deadlines and shifting priorities. The employee may be required to work evenings and weekends, depending upon the circumstances surrounding the project performance building management system operation.
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period 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 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, 10/30/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience that required the performance of work concerned with the design and alteration of interior spaces to meet functional and aesthetic needs such as: Identifying, researching, and creatively solving problems pertaining to the function and quality of the interior environment; Performing services relative to interior spaces, including programming, design analysis, space planning and aesthetics, using specialized knowledge of interior construction, building systems and components, building codes, equipment, materials, and furnishings; Preparing drawings and documents relative to the design of interior spaces in order to enhance and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; Coordinating and integrating the mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering disciplines within the interior context; Managing projects, developing cost estimates, evaluating bid proposals, reviewing construction documents, participating in on-site construction visits, conducting pre- and post-occupancy evaluations, developing standards for efficient space management, etc. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Major study must be interior design or other field that included or was supplemented by at least 30 semester hours in interior design, interior architecture, or interior environmental design, or passage of the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the second year) in a related field and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Interior Designer position, which may be used to meet the experience requirements for the GS-11 grade level. [(To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. [ NOTE: coursework must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities described in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section of the announcement)].

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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 qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

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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