Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Biomedical Info Systems)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; West Palm Beach (FL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Information Systems) to provide expert care for networked medical devices.

You will ensure cybersecurity, system integration, and reliable connectivity across the medical center, supporting clinical operations and patient care. The role requires knowledge of HL7 and DICOM standards, along with experience in managing medical equipment, servers, and interfaces with electronic health records.

Qualifications

• Associates degree or higher in biomedical technology/biomedical engineering or related field or approved alternative.
• Formal education or certificates accepted per the qualification standards and experience.
• Hold or have held relevant biomedical equipment certifications is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced technical expertise for networked medical devices and clinical systems.
• Ensure cybersecurity, system integration, and device connectivity across the medical center.
• Maintain safe, secure, and reliable medical technology systems to support clinical operations.
• Coordinate with IT and clinical staff on device interfaces and EHR integrations.
• Apply HL7 and DICOM knowledge to ensure compatible data exchange.

Skills

HL7

DICOM

Network troubleshooting

Cybersecurity standards

Project management

Information security tools

VLAN/IP addressing

Education

Biomedical technology/biomedical engineering degree

Engineering/Electronics/IT degree + 1 year experience

DOD training program

HTM certificate program

CBET/CRES/CLES/CHTM certification

Job description

Serves as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist specializing in Biomedical Information Systems. Provides advanced technical expertise for networked medical devices, ensuring cybersecurity, system integration, and device connectivity across the medical center. Supports clinical operations by maintaining safe, secure, and reliable medical technology systems.

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: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education, Experience, or Certification:
  1. Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field; OR
  2. Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
  3. Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program; OR
  4. Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
  5. Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship; OR
  6. Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
  7. Hold or having ever held certification as a Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET), Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist (CRES), Certified Laboratory Equipment Specialist (CLES), or Certified Healthcare Technology Manager (CHTM). Continuous maintenance of certification is not required throughout VHA employment.

**If claiming education or certification as proof of meeting basic requirements, documents are required to be submitted with application.

• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
  • The evaluation document must be submitted with your application.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS.

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade level specified.

Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Information Systems), GS-12:

GS-12-Specialized Experience: At least one year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs on their resume and in their experience:

• Knowledge of Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards.
• Knowledge of advanced testing methods to troubleshoot networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces.
• Skill in maintaining computer and server based medical equipment, databases, and software.
• Skill in managing medical equipment and clinical system projects that interface with an electronic health record or other information systems.
• Skill in applying cybersecurity standards to medical devices and clinical systems such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines.
• Ability to apply information security tools including virus protection, software updates, and operating system patches.
• Ability to establish a medical network including VLAN configuration, Internet Protocol addressing, and network security.

Assignment. For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety, as described in this standard at the specific grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the advanced level, the BESS, in addition to the duties at the FPL, manage medical servers and networks, diagnostic software, virtual platforms, and clinical applications software. They manage projects for medical equipment and clinical systems that interface with the electronic health record or other information systems. BESSs (Information Systems) manage virtual and physical hardware components including storage, memory, processing, graphical, and network interfaces. They facilitate operating system updates, upgrades, and virus protection. BESSs (Information Systems) perform maintenance for networked systems. They leverage resources and knowledge to minimize the need for unit and intermediate-level service contracts and manufacturer or vendor expenditures for tasks that can be completed in-house. BESSs (Information Systems) identify and troubleshoot issues related to networked medical equipment and clinical systems. They evaluate compatibility and adaptability of biomedical devices for integration to the electronic health record. BESSs (Information Systems) regularly review, coordinate, and implement available software patches, updates, and system or data backups with other BESSs, manufacturers, informatics, and IT staff. They are responsible for compliance with physical security, privacy, and information standards and infrastructure standards. BESSs (Information Systems) ensure compliance of networked clinical systems to all Medical Device Protection Program (MDPP) requirements. They design, implement, and manage appropriate security measures and disaster recovery plans critical to ensure system uptime and prevent loss of patient data from critical medical equipment and clinical systems.

Preferred Experience:

Experience supporting network-connected medical devices and healthcare technology systems, including troubleshooting hardware, software, network connectivity, and device-integration issues. Experience with medical device cybersecurity, operating systems, network configuration, vulnerability remediation, and collaboration with Information Technology and clinical stakeholders is preferred. Experience supporting medical device interfaces, servers, databases, or middleware within a healthcare environment is also preferred, along with demonstrated experience in system integration, network troubleshooting, and coordinated support across IT and clinical services.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements.

The position is mostly sedentary. Occasionally require duties that are physically demanding involving walking, sitting, standing, climbing ladders, crouching, crawling, stooping, reaching, kneeling, and some prolonged periods of intense concentration, under adverse conditions. Lifting of objects between 10 and 40 pounds is common, and on occasion lifting of heavier objects is necessary. Trips to satellite outpatient clinics are sometimes necessary and will involve transportation via station vehicle or privately-owned vehicle.