Boiler Plant Operator

Summary

The Boiler Plant Operator works in the Facilities Management Service for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS). This position is responsible for the safe, reliable, and efficient operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of high-pressure boiler plant systems and associated auxiliary equipment supporting hospital operations. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

Duties

Major duties include, but not limited to: Operate high-pressure boilers and auxiliary systems: Start, stop, adjust, monitor, and control multiple-fuel boilers and associated equipment to maintain safe and efficient steam production. Maintain and repair boiler plant equipment: Troubleshoot, repair, replace, adjust, and maintain burners, pumps, valves, controls, regulators, gauges, bearings, piping, compressors, fans, generators, feed-water systems, condensate systems, and other boiler components. Perform preventive maintenance: Conduct scheduled maintenance and equipment inspections and perform repairs and overhauls necessary to maintain plant reliability. Monitor computerized and automated controls: Use electronic, hydraulic, pneumatic, automatic, semi-automatic, and computerized control systems to evaluate operating conditions and make adjustments. Analyze boiler operating conditions: Read and interpret gauges, meters, recorders, electronic displays, alarms, and computer-generated data to determine boiler performance and identify abnormal conditions. Maintain combustion efficiency: Adjust combustion settings and fuel/air ratios to maintain efficient boiler operation and comply with applicable emissions and pollution-control requirements. Perform boiler-water testing and treatment: Test boiler feed water, boiler water, and condensate using chemical testing methods; determine appropriate chemical treatment; and control impurities, dissolved gases, and unstable water conditions. Inspect and maintain safety systems: Test, adjust, troubleshoot, and repair flame safeguards, pressure switches, differential switches, limit switches, timers, probes, sensors, safety valves, fuel cutoffs, ignition systems, and related protective devices. Troubleshoot electrical and mechanical systems: Diagnose equipment failures involving mechanical, electrical, electronic, pneumatic, hydraulic, and electro-mechanical components and perform appropriate repairs. Maintain operational documentation: Record steam production, water and fuel consumption, electricity and natural-gas usage, boiler chemistry, equipment conditions, and other required operating data. Respond to emergencies: Operate emergency generators when necessary, respond to emergency trouble calls, monitor facility fire-alarm and water-supply systems as assigned, and take immediate action to protect personnel, equipment, and hospital operations. Follow environmental and safety requirements: Handle boiler chemicals and byproducts appropriately and comply with applicable environmental, public-health, resource-protection, and workplace safety requirements. Work independently: Make operational and maintenance decisions during assigned shifts, including periods when working alone, while following standard operating procedures, engineering policies, technical manuals, and supervisory guidance. Coordinate with others: Work with utility plant personnel, Engineering Service staff, contractors, vendors, suppliers, mechanics, and technicians to support maintenance and repair activities. Work Schedule: Rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays. Position Description Title/PD#: Boiler Plant Operator/PD8620-O Physical Requirements: Heavy lifting, 45 pounds and over; Climbing, use of legs and arms; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Ability to distinguish shades of colors, Hearing (aid maybe permitted), Excessive heat; Excessive humidity; Slippery or uneven walking surfaces; Working on ladders or scaffolding; Working alone.

Qualifications

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards. SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements: Dexterity and Safety Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair Interpret Instructions, Specifications (includes blueprint reading) Measuring Instruments Operation of Equipment/Machinery Technical Practices Without more than normal supervision 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.