Healthcare Engineer

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Hampton (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System seeks a Project Engineer to lead planning, design, and construction for Minor Construction Projects, NRMs, and Leases at VA medical centers and CBOCs.

The role requires knowledge of engineering principles in healthcare settings, familiarity with regulatory standards, and the ability to manage multi-disciplinary teams and contractors to deliver compliant projects on schedule.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture from an ABET-accredited program or equivalent
• Evidence of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination with a bachelor's degree or FE certificate
• Current professional registration or licensure as a PE or Architect
• Proficiency in spoken and written English

Responsibilities

• Plan and manage project planning, design and construction for Minor Construction Projects, NRMs, Station Level Projects and Leases
• Provide construction administration for VA medical centers and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs)
• Verify designs against healthcare standards and regulatory requirements (TJC, OSHA, NFPA, etc.)
• Lead multi-disciplinary teams and coordinate with contractors to ensure timely, compliant project delivery

Skills

Healthcare engineering

Project planning

Problem solving

Regulatory compliance

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Architecture

Professional Engineer license

FE exam / EIT certificate

Job description

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. 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. 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). 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.

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).

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

Physical Requirements

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