This Fire Chief position is in the Fire and Safety Service at the VA Maine Healthcare System, located at the, Augusta, Maine location. This position is full-time at 56 hours per week.

Duties

The Life Safety Manager/Fire Chief coordinates and manages the Life Safety, Fire Protection, Fire Prevention, and Emergency Medical Service Programs for VA Maine Health Care System. The incumbent is responsible for a 200 bed Medical Center that comprises over 400 acres, three National Cemeteries, one 8 story high rise hospital, two nursing homes, mental health ward, eight satellite outpatient clinics and five veteran outreach centers and additional 14 quarters, several that are on the national Archive List. Primary life safety and fire protection responsibilities cover approximately 200 inpatients, 24 hours a day, 10,000 outpatients per month, numerous volunteers, students, construction workers, visitors and vendors along with approximately 8 Community Residential Care Homes, 2 Homeless Veterans facilities, 21 Nursing Homes located in all 16 Counties in Maine. Medical staff consists of approximately 1,350 employees with an average of 200,000 man hours per month risk. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Full responsibility for the development, organization and implementation of a comprehensive Medical Center life Safety and fire protection program. Assures that the intent of established rules and procedures such as VA, JCAHO, NFPA, OSHA, local, state, federal codes, etc., are followed and met by subordinates, Medical Center staff, and general public. Supervises the inspection, testing and maintenance programs of all fire protection equipment, including fire alarm systems, sprinkler systems, fire hydrants, portable and installed fire extinguishing systems. Prepares and executes formal personnel actions (reassignments, promotions, and recruitments); Selects, promotes, counsels and disciplines employees; Receives formal grievances and develops training plans Responds to fire alarms and calls for assistance, including hazardous materials incidents, serves as fire scene incident commander and is solely responsible for issuing orders and directing firefighters and Medical Center employees, including Nursing staff and Police, in a plan of attack in order to promptly and effectively extinguish fires, save lives and property and limit or prevent environmental harm. Coordinates and directs the workplace safety and fire prevention inspection programs to assure that all areas of the Medical Center buildings, grounds, property, equipment, construction sites, VA contracted nursing homes and outreach program sites are inspected at the required frequencies. Coordinates with and, acts as advisor to, both clinical and administrative officials in review of fire and safety requirements for the selection of equipment and materials. Develops schedules, conducts and/or coordinates in-depth fire and safety training classes for all managers, supervisors, employees, students and volunteers. Slides, films, literature, demonstration and exhibits are used as well as hands on demonstration in the conduct of these classes. Serves as Life Safety Management Program Coordinator on the Medical Center Environment of Care Committee. In this capacity the incumbent collects and analyzes data, prepares and presents quarterly reports comparing results against historical data, and advises on the effectiveness VA Maine Health Care System's Fire Prevention and Protection Program. Performs other related duties and functions as required. Work Schedule: Rotating shift work, 56 hours per week. The Fire Department operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Fire Chief/PD003640 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Required,Selectee must file a financial disclosure report, OGE Form 450, within 30 days of onboarding and then annually after that. Notification: -This position is in the Competitive Service. -This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. -This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. -Selectee required to serve one year supervisory/managerial probationary period. -Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. -Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2023. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. To qualify for this position, you must meet the following: SELECTIVE FACTORS: In addition to the meeting the above requirements, you must also meet the following Selective Factors for this position. You must submit copies of your certifications with your application to receive credit. National Fire Officer IV; National Fire Instructor II; National Fire Inspector II; National Hazardous Materials Incident Commander certification; Certification as Operations Level Responders; Certification as Firefighter II in accordance with NFPA 1001; *Selective Factors are skills, 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. ~AND~ SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Fire Chief. Such duties may include (1) controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military, industrial, volunteer, or governmental fire department or brigade; (2) rescue operations; (3) detection, reduction, or elimination of potential fire hazards; (4) operation of fire communications equipment; (5) controlling hazardous materials incidents and/or (6) developing, implementing, or providing training in fire protection and prevention. ~AND~ MAXIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT: This position requires a maximum entry age for an initial appointment; applicants cannot have reached their 37th birthday by the date of appointment. Applicants who have passed the designated entry age limit, but who have previously served as a federal employee in a covered position, may be eligible to re-enter the fire service provided that they: (1) meet all applicable qualifications for the position and (2) will be able to complete a total of 20 years of covered and creditable Federal fire service by the time the firefighter reaches the age of 57. ~AND~ DRIVER'S LICENSE: All applicants must possess a current, unrestricted valid state Driver's License. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsCritical ThinkingEducation and TrainingOrganizational StewardshipTechnical Competence 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: In the performance of the duties a substantial amount of time is spent walking, standing, crouching, climbing or sitting. Moderate to heavy physical effort is required when reaching, climbing, turning or moving hands, arms and feet in the performance of fire ground duties. Work Environment: The work environment consists of working in a standard office setting and areas throughout the Medical Center such as: laboratories, wards, attics, roofs, crawl spaces, construction sites, etc. in the process of making field inspections. The work environment may require the use of personal protective equipment, including but not limited to, safety shoes, safety glasses, hearing protection, coveralls, respirators, hard hat, etc. The work environment exposes the incumbent to temperature extremes, high noise levels, dust, dirt, inclement weather and potentially toxic chemicals and/or vapors. Incumbent may be required to work both inside and outside, occasionally being exposed to extremely adverse weather conditions and extreme heat when performing fire command duties. May also be called upon to work in environments that are classified as immediately dangerous to life or health and, in some cases, may be required to work long hours under severe, stressful conditions. 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.

Contacts

• Address Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: Dawn Yamura
• Phone: (808) 433-0184
• Email: [email protected]