The employee will serve as a Biological Science Laboratory Technician (Animal) at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Medical Center, in Cleveland, OH. This position requires a broad practical knowledge of animal husbandry and behavior. The employee's primary responsibility is to serve as the technical support to the animal husbandry program of the Veterinary Medical Unit (VMU). They must be able to work independently, work with multiple species of animals and communicate both orally and in writing.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.
• 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, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/13/2024. 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-04/GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-03/GS-04. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. AND You may qualify based on your education/experience/combination as described below. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Individual Occupational Requirements: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): 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. 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. OR For GS-4: Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GS-3. At least 6 semester hours of courses must be directly related to the position to be filled. For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GS-3. At least 6 semester hours of courses must have been directly related to the position to be filled. The successful completion of a full course of study of at least 12 months in a school for clinical laboratory technicians may be substituted for the 1 year of specialized experience required at the GS-5 level for positions involving microbiology and biochemistry technician work. Biological Science Technician Series 0404 (opm.gov) Specialized Experience GS-04: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-03 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as 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. This also includes performing animal husbandry and handling of small laboratory animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, etc.; and use and maintenance of various laboratory instrumentation. ; OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience as specified in the Individual Occupational Requirements described above. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the high school level as described above. Specialized Experience GS-05: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as 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. This specialized experience also includes performing animal husbandry; handling and caring for research animals; maintaining records for animal care and treatment; and maintaining equipment used in the care of animals. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience as specified in the Individual Occupational Requirements described above ; OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the high school level as described above. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Animal Husbandry Attention to Detail Biology Communication Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.

Contacts

• Address Cleveland ORD VISN 10 Federal Building, 1240 East 9th St Cleveland, OH 44199 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]