Supervisory Biological Laboratory Technician (Animal)

Summary

The employee will serve as the supervisor of VAMC Animal Facility in Charleston, SC. The position organizes, supervises, and evaluates the daily operational procedures of the animal research facility.

Learn more about this agency

Help

Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

06/28/2024 to 07/05/2024

• Salary

$59,966 - $77,955 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 9

• Help

Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Charleston, SC

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

No

• Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent

• Work schedule

Full-time

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

9

• Job family (Series)

0404 Biological Science Technician

• Supervisory status

Yes

• Security clearance

Other

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CARZ-12460153-24-EKO

• Control number

797772300

Help

This job is open to

• The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Videos

Help

Duties

• THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*

Duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Receives and performs preliminary physical examinations of animal subjects arriving at the facility;

• Performs routine periodic physical examinations on animals;

• Carries out a program of surveillance and prevention of disease;

• Recognizes and reports abnormal health and behavioral conditions;

• Assists the investigators with the conduct of experimental animal procedures such as collection of routine biological data,. administration of drugs and other agents, collection of blood and other body fluids, restraint (chemical and physical) etc.;

• Schedules the use of the surgical facilities;

• Maintains inventory of instruments, supplies, and sterile packs;

• Prepares animals for surgery;

• Ensures that repairs and maintenance of the facility are completed;

• Monitors and supervises the cage-washing facility including the coordination of scheduled maintenance of equipment;

• Assigns and evaluates work of subordinates;

• Interviews and screens potential employees;

• Recommends awards and disciplinary actions;

• Counsels employees;

• Performs other duties as assigned

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

Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Help

Requirements

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

• You may be required to serve a probationary period

• Subject to background/security investigation

• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you MUST meet one of the below requirements.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-8 level in the Federal service. The specialized experience required for some positions in this series is normally work performed in a controlled environment. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: research activity or control program work; nursery work that required the growing and maintenance of plants in a controlled environment; work comparable to that with a large dairy farm where production records, animal environment, and sanitary conditions were kept in accordance with modern dairy practice. Farming experience that was not performed in a controlled environment, or experience as a laborer who was not responsible for planning and scheduling his/her own work, but only performed assigned tasks, would not qualify as specialized experience. ADDITIONAL SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE INCLUDES: Performing duties such as: animal care, overseeing the day-to-day operation of a laboratory; understanding biological research methods and procedures.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Applicants must have successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a master's degree, or internship, in a field where it is directly related to the work of the position. (any combination of scientific or technical courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture or mathematics).

OR

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Applicants must possess combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of this position as described above, to meet total qualification requirements.

This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration.

The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Experience as a lead and/or supervisor with the ability to perform various duties in an animal research center such as animal husbandry procedures, biomedical research, and all applicable regulations governing the use of animals in research.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Administration and Management

• Animal Husbandry

• Teaching Others

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.

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; religious; 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.

Physical Requirements: Work is conducted in a laboratory setting. The employee directs and monitors activities in the animal research facility including supervising VMU technicians, cage wash staff; scheduling research projects., room assignments, work schedules, technical

procedures. preparing and delivering training courses and performing duties of a highly skilled animal technologist. The wok requires manual dexterity, technical skill and ability to work on a variety of projects efficiently and effectively. A portion of the employment time (approximately 60%) is devoted to management activities in an office setting. Work can require long periods of standing and or walking as well as long periods of 5itting. Duties in the facility necessitate the ability to lift loads of up to 50lbs pulling pushing, bending, stretching and restraining fractious animal.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

IMPORTANT: 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).

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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities (i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities), and/or disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. For more information on how to apply using this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator within the office, contact the facility Human Resources Department at (202) 020-2020.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more before any Veterans preference points) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

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.

Read more

• Benefits

Help

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 window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;

• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;

• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and

• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.