The incumbent will serve as the Health Physicist (Assistant Radiation Officer) and will work under the general supervision of the primary Health Physicist (Radiation Safety Officer) in the Office of the Deputy Medical Center Director.

Duties

Make recommend courses of action when complex radiation safety problems are encountered. Assist in the design, establishment, and implementation of written policies and procedures for the Radiation Safety Program. Advise researchers on the unusual, complex, and critical problems encountered when they review and recommend changes to experimental procedures. Conducts and supervise audits and scientific assessments of all clinical and research radioactive material safety programs to ensure compliance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and VA regulations. Manage machine-produced radiation safety program, which encompasses x-ray machine performance evaluations, CT dose optimization, extensive Joint Commission and VA requirements for training and safety procedures for the use of fluoroscopy. Preparing, surveying and decontaminating radio-iodine therapy rooms and giving radiation safety training to physicians, nursing staff, researchers, technologists, housekeepers and other staff. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the facility) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Physicist/PD040060 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/10/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your basic requirements and specialized experience as described below: Basic Requirement: You have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a natural science or engineering degree that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus. (Transcripts required) OR, Basic Requirement: You have equivalent combinations of experience and education in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus, plus appropriate experience or other education; or certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics. (Transcript and/or certification required) NOTE: The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation and clearly listed in your resume. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: demonstrating radiation/ health physics concepts, principles, practices and administrative techniques; identifying and evaluating radiation hazards and recommends corrective actions; and evaluating the various degrees of radiation exposure in relation to radiation standards per health, safety, and regulatory guidelines. This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Health PhysicsProblem SolvingQuality Management 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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. Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of walking and standing while performing audits and surveys and consulting with staff. Time is also spent informal and informal meetings with many different groups. Additionally, much of the work is administrative in nature and requires sitting in an office and utilizing computers. Decontamination team participation is very physically demanding since one wears a sealed suit with respiratory device. The incumbent must be medically cleared to participate on the decontamination team. 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Chantelle Thibodeaux
• Phone: 228-438-5251
• Email: [email protected]