Engineering Technician

Summary

Per The Joint Commission, utility systems are defined as building systems that provide support to the environment of care, including electrical distribution and emergency power; vertical and horizontal transport; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC); plumbing, boiler, and steam; piped gases; vacuum systems; and communications systems, including data exchange systems. This encompasses the scope of building systems included in the scope of this Committee.

Duties

The Chief Engineer is ultimately responsible for assuring reliable utilities are generated and/or distributed to the point of use, providing expert technical guidance to utility users and promoting the safe, effective, and efficient use of utilities at VA-owned buildings. For the purpose of this committee, responsibilities are delegated as follows: 1. Assistant Chief Engineer: Management of utility outage requests and disruptions. This includes managing a process to request, assess, approve, and compile after-action reports for planned and unplanned utility disruptions. After-action reports shall be prepared and presented to this Committee. Evaluate and prepare recommendations for improvements in the Utility Management Plan and this Committee's end of year report to the CEOCC. 2. Chief, Projects and Development Section: Designing and installing utility systems in accordance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes to meet patient care and operational needs. Also to design utility systems for interim measures that reduce risks and maintain utility continuity to areas outside of the construction area, during construction activities. 3. Chief, Maintenance Operations Repair and Readiness (MORR): Manage the inventory, including a library of manuals, procedures provided by manufacturers, technical bulletins, and other information. Also, manage maintenance and risk assessments of operating components of utility systems for which there is risk of serious harm or death to a patient or staff member should the component fail including an annual review. Ensure applicable medical center policies and procedures and user standards regarding operation and maintenance are followed. Identify and correct problems with utility systems/components for compliance with regulatory agencies. Ensure that all the utility systems/components maintenance procedures meet manufacturer recommendations or request an Alternative Equipment Maintenance procedure. Report problems and corrective solutions. Maintain documentation of operator and technician competencies, training records and certification. Provide reports for required testing of utility systems and annual review of risk assessments. Annual risk assessments of the following systems will be conducted/documented to prioritize based on risk to operations and resilience (e.g., American Society of Healthcare Engineers template or equivalent): a. Fire safety equipment and systems. b. Life safety features of the building. c. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. d. Electrical systems. e. Potable and critical water and sewer systems. f. Medical gas systems. g. Steam, heating hot water and chilled water. h. Vertical Transport. 4. Energy Manager: To report utility efficiencies gained/lost, recommend improvement to systems and identify general areas of improvement. 5. Space Administration Section Chief: To provide pertinent updates on lease buildings regarding utility-specific information. To report preventative maintenance and/or corrective maintenance in lease buildings. Utilize the Committee as a resource library when needed. B. The Chief, Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis, is ultimately responsible for assuring reliable utilities are generated and/or distributed to the point of use, providing expert technical guidance to utility users, and promoting the safe, effective, and efficient use of utilities at VA leased buildings. C. Committee Members: 1. Attend and participate in the Committee meetings. 2. Identify significant issues for their services/areas. 3. Assist the committee with developing workable solutions to utility issues. 4. Prepare for and support repair, preventative maintenance, corrective maintenance, and/or construction which may require physical closures of areas and/or shutdown of utilities for work to be performed (regardless of the resource performing the work). 5. Provide constructive feedback to improve performance of utility systems.??????? Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 am to Friday 4:00 pm Compressed/Flexible: May be authorized. Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad-Hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Engineering Technician/PD10018A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/05/2026. 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. Individual Occupational Requirements Series Definition: This series covers technical positions supervising, leading, or performing work involving applying a practical knowledge of the: methods and techniques of engineering or architecture; and construction, application, properties, operations, and limitations of engineering systems, processes, structures, machinery, devices, and materials. Certification: Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experienceIn addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements you must also meet the Specialized Experience listed below.You may qualify based on your experience as described below:Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Use of computer-aided design (CAD) software to prepare, update, and maintain architectural, engineering, and as-built drawings and documentation for existing buildings and building systems (such as architectural, structural, civil, HVAC, electrical, or plumbing), including drawing review and coordination. Experience interpreting and creating detailed floor plans, sections, elevations, and system layouts for facilities (not component parts). Application of knowledge of building codes, construction practices, and design standards in the development and maintenance of facility as-built documents. Experience in updating and managing drawing databases and file structures for multi-discipline building projects. Familiarity with plan reading and working with various engineering and architectural teams to ensure as-built documentation accurately reflects field conditions and construction changes. Preferred Experienc