The Biological Science Lab Technician (Animal) will be working at the Wm. S. Middleton VA Medical Center, Madison, WI. This position is located in the Animal Research Facility. The primary purpose of this position is to provide basic and skilled husbandry functions for all species of animals.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major Duties: Performs basic animal husbandry functions necessary for the care and feeding of laboratory animals. Observes animals carefully while recognizing and reporting obvious changes in health. Maintains daily inventory records and documents breeding cycles, reproduction, isotope usage, behavior, and health status. Restrains animals for injections or examination, Collects blood, tissue or fluid samples. Manufactures custom diets according to defined methods and preparations of precise weight. Assists in the receipt of incoming animals by examining for healthiness and compliance with specifications. Assures that precautions are taken to minimize danger from hazardous materials. Performs cage cleaning and washing functions and repairs caging and equipment when necessary. Assists in surgical procedures following specific instructions provided by the supervisor. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm 5 days per week to include weekends and holidays (Facility operates 7 days per week) Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR GS-6 Have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal service. Experience must have been related to the work of the position for which application is made. 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. Specialized experience also includes working experience in a laboratory that involves basic knowledge of overall care, safety and well-being of research animals; monitoring research regulatory compliance; maintaining records; utilizing a variety of equipment; providing technical assistance; maintaining supplies for the facility. 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. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. ~OR~ SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: Have successfully completed one-half year of graduate education (9 semester hours) that includes courses directly related to the work of this position (i.e. biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics) that may be substituted for the experience required. Such graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR~ COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Have a combination of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience that may be used to meet total experience requirements. This education must include courses directly related to the work of the position (as described above) and must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Animal HusbandryAttention to Detail 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: The work often entails heavy requiring agility, strength. and repetitive motion activities. Such work must also be performed on weekends and holidays. The employee is subject to bites and scratches by animals and is exposed to animal allergies a variety of infectious diseases. Most of the workday is spent walking or standing. Employee must pass standard hospital employment physical, including animal allergy screening. 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).

Contacts

• Address Madison WI ORD VISN 12 2500 Overlook Terrace Madison, WI 53705 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]