Lead Medical Technician

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/08/2024. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: (a) Technical medical laboratory support work such as performing laboratory tests and examinations (chemical, microbiologic, hematologic and blood banking) and preparing reports of findings or (b) technical support work in a closely related field, e.g., biological laboratory technician work, that required application of the methods and techniques for the position to be filled; You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Patient Care Quality Assurance Specimen Collection Selective Placement Factor: one (1) year of experience performing phlebotomy and waived testing. 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: The work requires extensive and recurring physical exertion such as standing for long periods of time, bending, standing, lifting, walking, stooping, repetitive motions, and stretching. The work requires duty on weekends, holidays, and nights when so assigned. This position is also considered high risk because of the constant exposure to blood and fluid products, sharps and chemicals, and patients in isolation rooms due to communicable disease. Work Environment: The work area is well lit, heated and ventilated. The work involves regular and recurring moderate risks of exposure to infectious materials which require special safety precautions. There is contact with potentially biologically hazardous specimens (some of which may contain hepatitis or HIV virus). There is frequent contact with patients with undiagnosed and respiratory illnesses. The employee has the potential to be exposed to communicable disease. Employees are mandated to use appropriate personal protective equipment. Standard Precautions must be taken to protect self and others from contamination. Employee is required to wear/use personal protective equipment or gear such as gloves, coats, and masks according to regulatory agencies. 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/.
The Lead Medical Technician is located in the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service (P&LMS) at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC Spokane. The employee performs many different functions, including accession specimens into computer system; collects, evaluates and processes patient specimens; answers questions relative to specimens; instructs and assists patients; and sends out specimens for testing. Follows policies and procedures established by service, medical center, VA and regulatory agencies.