Lead Intermediate Care Technician

The Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) Generalist is assigned to the VA Clinic Kalispell for the Montana VA Health Care System Nursing Services. This position serves as an Advance Technician for outpatient care settings such as; primary care, mental health, and specialty clinics. As an ICT Generalist the incumbent may serve in a medical center, community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC), mobile medical unit or may have virtual/remote assignments.

• Coaches ICT's they lead in the selection and application of appropriate problem-solving methods and techniques, provides advice on work methods, practices and procedures, and assists the team and/or individual members in identifying the parameters of viable solutions.
• Maintains awareness of the status and progress of ICT's work and makes day-to-day adjustments to ensure their work aligns with program goals and processes
• Leads the team in identifying, distributing, and balancing workload and tasks in accordance with established work flow, skill level and/or occupational specialization; makes-adjustments to accomplish the workload in accordance with established priorities to ensure timely accomplishment of assigned team tasks; and ensures that each team member has an integral role in developing the final team products and services.
• Identifies training needs and assists in the development of training for ICT's.
• Mentors ICT's by providing guidance on professional and job duties, methods and techniques of team building, and how to work in a team to accomplish tasks or projects.
• Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work, checks on work in progress, and reviews completed work to see that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines, and quality have been met;
• Serves as a coach, facilitator and/or negotiator in coordinating team initiatives and in consensus building activities among team members;
• Maintains program and administrative reference materials, project files, and relevant background documents and makes available policies, procedures, and written instructions from the supervisor;
• Maintains current knowledge to answer questions from team members on procedures, policies, directives, etc.
• Patient Screening: Duties include performing observation-based screening and collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel. This may involve completing clinical reminders, obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health-related conditions that may impact the patient's health status.
• Mental Health Services: Will assists in behavioral/psychiatric situations in an emergency setting. This can include assisting licensed personnel with crisis intervention, assists with the management of aggressive or suicidal psychiatric patients, by providing one-to-one observations and applying prevention and management of disruptive behavior techniques (PMDB). Performs duties focused on communication techniques required to complete the in-depth questioners and templates approved for use in the ED, including active listening, restating, and mirroring. Will maintain a safe and therapeutic environment for the patient while promoting a sense of worth and dignity under the supervision of the assigned licensed personnel.
• Clinical Tasks:
• Vital signs. Examples: vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG).
• Point-of-care (POC). Examples: Abbott hand-held blood analyzer (I-STAT), glucometer.
• Equipment and surgical instrumentation set up . Examples: chest tube insertion, filling water chambers, handing instruments in a sterile field, and hooking up to suction when ordered.
• Observations and interventions. Examples: oxygen therapy and splinting.
• Wound care. Examples: bandaging, application of dressings and wound measurements.
• Specimen collection and Preparation. Examples: collecting and labeling venous blood samples and mucous specimens.
• Geriatric-specific care. Example: screening for depression, elder abuse, consults, phone follow-up, in-person follow-up and assisting with ambulation, fall prevention.
• Assisting with patient exams and screening. Examples: gynecology exams, Brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM) screening.
• Patient transport. Examples: Can transport patients without cardiac monitor. Assists licensed clinical professionals with patients who need continues cardiac monitoring, to and from diagnostic tests or admissions, and outpatient campus response teams.
• Cardiovascular monitoring. Examples: central station or bedside cardiac monitoring.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: This position may be authorized for (ADHOC) telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Position Description/PD#: Lead Intermediate Care Technician/PDS10134A

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/19/2026.

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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 ( Two or More SF-50's indicating change in Steps or Grade) 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 GS-8: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
• Practical knowledge of the major body systems, i.e., skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, circulatory, digestive and genitourinary, to perform patient examination and to provide prompt and efficient patient care and appropriate patient handling.
• Working knowledge of topographic anatomy, e.g., right/left, surface, proximal/distal, superior, inferior, to accurately transmit location information about the body.
• Working knowledge of diagnostic signs, e.g., pulse, respiration, blood pressure, temperature, skin color, pupils of the eyes, state of consciousness, ability to move on command, reaction to pain, etc., to perform patient evaluation, to provide patient care, and to ensure appropriate patient handling.
• Knowledge of medications (their uses, doses, side effects, adverse effects and toxicity signs) sufficient to properly administer drugs even when directed to do so by the licensed staff.
• Knowledge of proper dosages required in keeping with method of administration.
• Skill in communication techniques and the operation of communications equipment to be able to accurately obtain and relay information to and from health care providers.
• Knowledge of major psychiatric conditions, depressive, anxiety, bipolar and substance use disorders, and schizophrenia.
• Knowledge of the components of suicide risk assessment, warning signs, environmental safety and referral.
• Possesses a broad knowledge of equipment and supplies to adequately anticipate the demands of providers in multiple sub-specialties.

Note: We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Please see the Required Documents section of the announcement for resume requirements. Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week to receive proper evaluation.

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 involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. Generally, the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients.

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/.

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 identification 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.