Summary This position is in the Dental service within the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Louisville, Kentucky. The Dental Laboratory Technician functions in the Dental Laboratory as a fully qualified and experienced technician helping provide dental services to our veteran population. His/her advice is sought on a regular and recurring basis by the staff dentists (dental providers) helping provide high quality evidence based dental care. Responsibilities 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 and responsibilities include: Fabricating complex removable and fixed oral-maxillofacial applicants including fixed, computer assisted fabrication techniques (CAD-CAM), semi-fixed, or removable implant cases, partial and complete dentures. Performs fabrication, fitting, and adjustment of dental prostheses and appliances as well as the materials used in the fabrication of such appliances. Collaborates with detail staff to design and fabricate complex dental or intra-oral maxillofacial appliances. Fabricating dental splints and surgical guides/templates. Wax, invest, boil out, cure and deflask acrylic bases for partial and complete dentures. Block out master casts, wax complete dentures for try-in, according to dentist's prescription. Carve and contour wax to duplicate the appearance of natural oral tissues. Construct and fabricate bite raisers, cleft palate obturators, fracture splints, immediate dentures, surgical template, and orthodontic appliances. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) 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. Qualifications IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-9 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING" ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. ~AND~ SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess 1 year of specialized experience, equivalent to the next lowered level (GS-8) in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) needed to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to this Dental Laboratory Technician position to be filled. Specialized experience for the position includes: using dental laboratory material such as impression materials, plasters, stones, hydrocolloids, waxes, metals, acrylics, porcelain, and similar materials; using laboratory equipment such as hand tools, dental lathes, engines, and hand pieces, furnaces, casting machines, presses, flasks, and related equipment; using precision instruments such as articulators, surveyors, and microanalyzers; and constructing dental prosthetic appliances. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.) ~OR~ EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: You must have successfully completed one and one-half years (1 1/2) of graduate level education directly related to the Dental Laboratory Technician position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study; if that number cannot be obtained from the transcript, 18 semester hours will be considered as one full academic year of graduate study. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) ~OR~ COMBINATION: You must possess equivalent combinations of experience and education as described above to fully meet the requirements of this position. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE AND COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Analytical Thinking Applies Technology to Tasks Medicine and Dentistry Quality Assurance Technical Competence 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: Work requires some bending, stooping, lifting of supplies and periods of standing and sitting. The work is generally performed in a dental laboratory. Will be required to wear PPE when indicated to minimize possible hazards during fabrication of prosthetic appliances and comply with other OSHA safety regulations. 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). Additional Information Note: Per "Executive Order 14251: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs", this position is no longer eligible for bargaining unit participation. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
