Healthcare Engineer

Summary

The position serves as a Project Engineer at an assigned Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System. This position performs project planning, produces designs, manages designs, manages construction, and provides construction administration for Minor Construction Projects, Non-Recurring Maintenance (NRM) Projects, Station Level Projects, and Leases, including all areas and aspects at an assigned medical center and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC)'s.

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Duties

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Duties include but not limited to:

• Conducts capital asset and infrastructure planning and design for the medical facility spanning initial strategic planning, concept development, design, construction, and effective implementation of complex buildings, utilities, and medical support systems.
• Manages healthcare engineering project design and administers construction in accordance with VA policies and procedures, VA Design Guides, VA Design Manuals, VA Master Specifications and related industry codes and standards.
• Performs healthcare engineering project construction management and post project activities while ensuring continuity of building and utility services for medical facility operations.
• Assists in the provision of a continuing education program for clinical staff and maintenance personnel addressing the principles and application of building and utility systems in the delivery of health care.
• Assists in development and implementation of the environment of care program that meets current Joint Commission, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), College of American Pathologists (CAP), NFPA, and VA requirements, particularly as it relates to construction safety and infection control.
• Working knowledge of The Joint Commission (TJC) requirements, NFPA 101 the Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code, in addition to VA design requirements is necessary to provide direction to Architectural/Engineering firms on complex healthcare designs to ensure compliance and regulatory requirements are met for the medical facility.
• 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 a broad review of all disciplines of Engineering when applied to a healthcare environment to support construction document reviews and preparation.
• 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.
• Performs planning and analysis activities that includes conducting or directly overseeing surveys and site investigations to establish baseline data necessary to initiate design for renovations, alterations, and additions to the existing hospital, patient care facilities, administrative buildings, grounds, utility plants and systems, and historic buildings listed on the national registry.
• 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.
• Ensures implementation of sound decisions and guidance dealing with compromises and changes in project objectives.
• Coordinating and overseeing work in a healthcare environment requires the incumbent to have knowledge of complex medical systems and is responsible to coordinate work while keeping patients safe and the medical facility operational.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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)

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 Authorized

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 000000

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.

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.
• Education:
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be from a school with at least one 3 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Healthcare Engineer candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations : Healthcare Engineer, GS-12

In addition to the basic requirements; candidates at this level must posses:

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade and
• 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.
  • Skill in researching and analyzing information, conditions, human factors and projections to make sound engineering and business recommendations and decisions to proactively identify problems and develop innovative solutions within the context of applicable rules, regulations and procedures.
  • Ability to plan and execute complex, multi-faceted projects and inspections while prioritizing resources against approved scopes of work, contract documents and budgets.
  • Ability to organize and lead multi-disciplinary task forces with members from different departments and divisions, as well as design and construction firms.

Preferred Experience: The ideal candidate would be able to identify deficiencies of Architect/Engineer designs, apply construction management process, be knowledgeable in construction safety and OSHA regulations, be knowledgeable in building codes, be able to provide technical and professional advise to contractors and coworkers, understand federal government regulations, able to develop in-house designs and extensive experience managing construction projects.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

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

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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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.

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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.