Summary The Safety and Occupational Health Manager is responsible for the development and management of comprehensive programs including occupational safety, industrial hygiene, fire prevention/life safety, hazardous materials and waste management, emergency preparedness, environmental risk management and regulatory compliance. Responsibilities Major duties include but are not limited to: Manage and lead the workforce of Occupational Safety and Health to recognize compliance gaps, assess compliance strategies, resolve environmental deficiencies, minimize risks and utilize staff, equipment and monetary resources effectively. Provide direct supervision to employees performing a variety of duties within the scope of Occupational Safety and Health Programs. Initiate recruitment actions, interviews and select new employees. Monitor regulatory environment to anticipate changing priorities, program objectives, staffing and financial resources. Prepare executive briefings and summary reports for the committees, Performance Improvement Board, and Executive Council of the Governing Body. Identify agenda issues and ensure proceedings comply with VHA and TJC requirements, including performance improvement indicators and annual management plan reviews. Develop incident intervention strategies with the goal to reduce incident rates, reduce severity of injury, and prevent recurrences. Meet and work with state and local authorities to ensure Medical Center compliance with state and county hazardous materials ordinances and reporting requirements. Develop and maintain close working relationships with local community fire officials. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level GS-13 without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. This position is eligible to telework on an as needed (ad hoc) basis, determined by the needs of the service. Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager/PD804320 and PD804330 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary; however, walking, bending and climbing are required to inspect various activities, equipment, and structures. Occasionally the work requires moderate physical exertion. When the job requires inspection of structure or construction, climbing of scaffolding, crawling, stretching, agility and dexterity may be demanded. 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 or 2-year trial 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 05/01/2026. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 Requirement (IOR) Requirement: An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the GS 0018 occupational series. Education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for this occupational series, applicants must have one of the following listed below: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. OR, Specialized experience: Experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements. Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management. Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements. Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards. Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses. Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards. Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards. Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards. Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects. Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse. In addition to the above Individual Occupational Requirement, applicants may qualify based on their specialized experience as described below: GS 12 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of safety and occupational health principles, practices, procedures, and regulations applicable to the performance of a full range of complex safety and occupational health management responsibilities involving planning, organizing, directing, operating and evaluation of a safety and occupational health program for warehousing, printing, steam plant, transportation, and equipment maintenance operations; Knowledge of construction standards, methods, practices, techniques, materials, equipment, and utility systems sufficient to evaluate compliance with construction safety standards and devise innovative hazard control measures applicable to new building construction and industrial modifications; Skill in the interpretation of engineering drawing sufficient to identify possible hazardous conditions; Develops administrative documents such as performance standards, position descriptions, statistical reports, executive briefings; Knowledge of policy and procedure for incident response, investigation, reporting and analysis. GS 13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Expert knowledge of safety, fire protection, occupational and environmental health concepts, principles, practices and procedures, bodies of laws, and regulations; Practical knowledge in techniques and procedures applied by Safety managers, Fire Protection Engineers and Industrial Hygienists to coordinate hazard efforts; Provides expert consultation on the operation, implementation and expectations of the safety, fire protection, occupational and environmental health programs; Develops administrative documents such as performance standards, position descriptions, statistical reports, executive briefings; Develops policy and procedure for incident response, investigation, reporting and analysis; Uses guidelines, including standard instructions, technical literature, department policies and regulations, manufacturer catalogs, precedents and standard practices to manage a Safety and Occupational Health program. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Compliance inspection, problem solving, public safety and security, technical compliance, communications and leadership. 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 the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information 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.
