Physical Scientist

Summary

This position is organizationally aligned to the Safety and Emergency Management Services (SEMS), office of the Associate Director, Located at the VA Illiana Health Care System, Danville, IL - a Level 3 complexity facility. The primary purpose of this position is to serve as the Environmental, Green Environmental Management Systems (Gems) and Industrial Hygiene Program Manager with secondary duties as Safety Specialist.

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Duties

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The incumbent is responsible for coordinating the efforts of VAIHCS staff involved with Environmental programs and Industrial Hygiene Health and Safety ensure that policies and programs are developed and implemented in accordance with VHA and VAIHCS policy and guidance. Ensures that the health of VAIHCS environmental and Industrial Hygiene compliance programs result in findings and conclusions that lead to continual improvement of environmental program for VAIHCS. The incumbent applies environmental science and technology to demonstrate relationships that correlate between VAIHCS operations with human health, ecosystems, environmental aspects, and natural resources, Provides leadership and direction to management, professional and technical personnel regarding the development and implementation of the facility Environmental and Industrial Hygiene programs.

- Develop and implement environmental policies, procedures and systems.

- Advise management on how environmental policies, procedures and systems will affect the operations of VAIHCS.

-Measure the effectiveness of existing environmental programs and recommend additions needed to meet changing environmental requirements.

- Performs site inspections at hazardous waste disposal, transport, or storage facilities where the problems typically are easy to identify and conventional in nature.

- Lead and develop training sessions for VAIHCS personnel.

- Plans and manages the industrial Hygiene and environmental projects/programs that are related to achieving and maintaining environmental compliance, as well as developing and implementing environmental policy, guidance and procedures related to all environmental media.

- Plans, conducts, or directs special studies concerned with occupational health problems which require the development of medication of air sampling equipment or protective devices or the evaluation of control measures for a specific operation.

- Resolves difficult and complex technical, project management and organizational problems using innovative and original approaches.

- Reviews files and records and summarizes relevant information in connection with compliance reviews.

- Cooperatively works with federal, state and local environmental and occupational safety and health organizations in areas of mutual interest.

Work Schedule: M-F 7:30am - 4:00PM

Telework: Ad-Hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Physical Scientist/ PD252850

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 work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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, 08/26/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement : 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 s described below:

• Specialized Experience: : One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes:
• Evaluating and applying methods and equipment to the practice of safety and industrial hygiene.
• Developing and implementing plans to accomplish program goals, modifying policies and procedures to comply with frequent changes to applicable laws and regulations, providing technical advice and assistance to employees, planning, coordinating and implementing tests and conducting studies and surveys to identify problems and recommending modifications to operations to complete projects, and developing and/or review all environmental documentation relating to assigned program areas.
• Performing scientific and technical evaluation, correlation, synthesis, and presentation of important data for Air Quality Management.
• Developing and implementing environmental policies, procedures, and systems.
• Experience working with asbestos abatement, underground storage tanks, solid waste management, and water and air quality management programs in a healthcare environment.
• Education IOR:
• Basic Requirements:
  Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.
  or
  Combination of education and experience education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

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: The work requires the employee to carry a good deal of equipment and involves walking, standing, bending, climbing, crawling during surveys, or stooping to observe work operations and identify leaking containers in a treatment, storage, or disposal area.

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.

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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