Healthcare Engineer

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Butler (Butler County); On-site; USD 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Healthcare System in Butler, PA, is seeking a Healthcare Engineer GS-12. This role plans, designs, and manages construction for Minor Construction, NRMs, Station Level Projects, and Leases, covering architectural, electrical, life safety, mechanical, civil, and structural aspects.

Applicants must meet education/licensure requirements; U.S. citizenship required; grandfathering provisions may apply for current VA employees.

Qualifications

• Citizenship requirement and basic education/licensure prerequisites.
• Education must be ABET-accredited or equivalent.
• Foreign education evaluation allowed; grandfathering provision may apply.

Responsibilities

• Plan, design, and manage construction for major and minor VA projects.
• Provide construction administration and project oversight.
• Collaborate with clinical staff, contractors, and leadership to ensure compliance.

Skills

Engineering knowledge

Project planning

Construction management

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Architecture

ABET-accredited program or equivalent

Professional licensure/registration (PE/Architect)

Job description

The position serves as a Project Engineer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System located at Butler, PA. 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 (architectural, electrical, life safety, mechanical, civil, structural, etc.).

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

1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
2. Education.
   1. 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
   2. 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
   3. 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.
3. Grandfathering Provision. All individuals employed in VHA in this occupational series or in another occupational series performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of this qualification standard, are considered to have met all the qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education that is part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements of this standard, but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to the position, the following provisions apply:
   1. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. 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.
   4. 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.
   5. 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.
4. 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.
5. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
6. 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.

• 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:
  1. Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, structural, civil and other engineering/architectural principles, practices and their applications in the healthcare environment.
  2. 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.
  3. Knowledge of construction standards, methods, practices and techniques, materials and equipment to determine compliance with engineering regulations and standards.
  4. 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.
  5. Ability to plan and execute complex, multi-faceted projects and inspections while prioritizing resources against approved scopes of work, contract documents and budgets.
  6. Ability to organize and lead multi-disciplinary task forces with members from different departments and divisions, as well as design and construction firms.
• Assignment. Employees at this level serve as Healthcare Engineers at the full performance level. They work independently, under general supervision with wide latitude to exercise independent judgment. Healthcare Engineers demonstrate intimate grasp of high order healthcare engineering and capital subject matter. They serve as institutional resources for healthcare delivery processes and systems, working extensively with clinical stakeholders, acquisition staff, contractors and executive leadership by leading healthcare engineering programs, technology assessments, integration planning and 8 implementation of both current and emerging technologies. Healthcare Engineers support the delivery of healthcare to Veterans by contributing to the education of clinical staff, planners and leadership to ensure safe and efficient healthcare delivery. Healthcare Engineers plan, execute and document highly complex, multi-faceted healthcare facility construction projects and inspections while prioritizing resources against approved scopes of work, contract documents and budgets. They identify problems and develop innovative solutions within the context of applicable rules, regulations and procedures, as it relates to the healthcare environment.

Reference

https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/

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 Handbook 5019