Assistant Hospital Housekeeping Officer

The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), New England Health Care Network (VISN 1), Medical Center, under the Environmental Management Services. The incumbent exercises complete management and program responsibility for all hospital housekeeping operations and ancillary functions.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Plans, organizes, directs, manages, reviews and evaluates an augmented program, which includes responsibility for Uniform Appropriation, Environmental Health and Sanitation, Pest Control, and Bio­hazardous Waste, management programs. This also includes the more traditional functions of waste management and maintenance of sanitary and visual cleanliness for hospital floors, ceilings, windows and walls, as well as, overseeing the management of the Medical Center's unique programs such as Fitness Centers, Fisher House, etc.
• Develops personnel management policies and effects all related personnel actions for the service staff.
• Ensures the establishment of adequate training program and compliance with Veterans Health Administration and/or local policies. Incumbent sets objectives, and coordinates program reviews and evaluations, resulting in a clean and aesthetically pleasing hospital environment.
• Serves as a member of the Director's top advisory or executive board and is thoroughly involved with the total medical center's mission.
• Serves on standing committees of the facility, such as the Administrative Executive Board and the Strategic Planning Board in addition to its subordinate entities and is extensively involved as a full member of multiple interdisciplinary committees.
• Participates in resolving a wide variety of hospital problems throughout the physical plant and outpatient clinics.
• Provides input to determine long- and short-range planning, for establishing overall policy, and budgeting for the medical center as well as for the Environmental Management Program and assists in formulating the overall hospital mission.
• As a member of the Strategic Planning Committee for the facility, acts as a primary focal point and advocate for management improvement within the facility and its dependent facilities.
• Serves as the primary coordinator and liaison between Administrative Services and Clinical Services for epidemiology and infection control.
• In conjunction with these duties, serves on the Infection Prevention and Surgical Services Committee.
• Consistently provides input to such areas as Clostridium difficile control, disinfection, handling, and disposal of biohazardous waste, bloodborne pathogen precautions and disposal of anti-neoplastic materials.
• Interprets local and agency policies and drafts policies for local facility approval.
• Administers labor management agreements and confers with Union Officials to resolve problems arising from interpretation or application of contract agreements.
• Delegates to subordinate supervisors and holds them accountable for the performance of their assigned duties.
• Ensures environmental regulatory compliance in the service by the effective implementation of applicable environmental programs and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Exercises independent judgment and initiative in directing the accomplishment of assigned work operations and program management responsibilities within the limits established by Facility Support Directorate.
• Ensures that all employees are knowledgeable of and comply with safety rules, that all employees receive pertinent and required safety training, and that safety programs are met.
• Reviews and evaluates activities within the Sanitation Section to measure the extent of achievement of objectives and to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning methods, techniques, and procedures.
• Trains, counsels, disciplines, evaluates, and promotes the growth of employees within the department.
• Develops and implements organization structures and operating plans and procedures to achieve program goals and determines needs for resources and their appropriate allocation and effectiveness.
• Prepares, maintains, and monitors work plans for staff utilization.
• Identifies training and competency needs and ensures on the job training is conducted to develop technical competence.
• Oversees various program areas/contracts (environmental sanitation, linen management, waste management and recycling, pest control).
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Assistant Hospital Housekeeping Officer/PD523-04108-O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Notifications:

• This is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• Position is in the Competitive Service.
• This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
• The incumbent may be required to travel to other Boston VA campuses and CBOC's.
• Selectee may be required to serve one year supervisory/managerial probationary period.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/05/2026.

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-9. 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.

Quality Ranking Factor: Experience or displayed knowledge of regulatory standards governing hospital environmental operations, including: safety, sanitation, and infection control.

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): The Hospital Housekeeping Management Series 0673 requires specific education or experience to be met in order to be appointed into a position of this series. You must meet one of the pre-determined education or experience Individual Occupational Requirements listed below as set by Office of Personnel Management (OPM):Undergraduate Education: Major study -- chemistry or biological sciences, sanitary science or administration, institutional sanitation or administration, hospital administration, hotel administration, public administration, business administration, or other fields related to the position. Graduate Education: Major study -- public health or business administration with emphasis in hospital administration. OR

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience in two or more of the following areas, or other work related to the position to be filled:

• Experience that demonstrated a practical working knowledge of the basic principles of chemistry, biology, and bacteriology as applied to environmental sanitation, infection control, and to the choice and use of antimicrobial agents in the disinfection, sanitization, and/or sterilization of surfaces and equipment.
• Experience in laundry and linen management.
• Experience in interior design management.
• Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of waste management, including the requirements relating to hazardous, toxic, and infectious wastes and provisions for their final disposition.
• Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of pest management, including alternative methods of control and the selection and application of chemicals.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to meeting both the Individual Occupational Requirements listed above, and Time-In-grade, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

To qualify for the GS-673-11 based on specialized experience: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-09 level or equivalent for this position. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. At the GS-11 full performance level, the incumbent demonstrates experience in two or more of the following areas:

• Experience that demonstrated a practical working knowledge of the basic principles of chemistry, biology, and bacteriology as applied to environmental sanitation, infection control, and to the choice and use of antimicrobial agents in the disinfection, sanitization, and/or sterilization of surfaces and equipment.
• Experience in laundry and linen management.
• Experience in interior design management.
• Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of waste management, including the requirements relating to hazardous, toxic, and infectious wastes and provisions for their final disposition.
• Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of pest management, including alternative methods of control and the selection and application of chemicals.

To qualify for the GS-671-11 based on education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related to public health or business administration with emphasis in hospital administration.

To qualify for the GS-671-11 based on combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

Supervisory Situational Judgment Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment and decision-making skills that align with relevant competencies, organizational values, and best practices. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. The assessment for this application does not include a cut score for a minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. However, you must answer each item in the assessment.

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.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Physical Requirements: Responsibility spans throughout the medical center situated on 100 acres consisting of 56 patient care and administrative buildings encompassing over 2M million square feet which makes supervision very challenging. Due to this large area covered, the employee will do a lot of moving across the areas supervised. The work will require some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, or recurring and considerable crouching, bending, standing, stooping, stretching, or walking such as in performing cleaning activities if needed and possible inspections of employees/contractors' work. Work could also include frequent lifting of moderately heavy items weighing less than 23 kilograms (i.e., under 50 pounds) such as boxes and equipment. 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.

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/.

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/.

Notifications (continued):

• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• Current federal employees must submit copies of their most recent non-award SF50 (notice of personnel action). The SF50 must identify the position, title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (competitive or excepted). In some cases, more than one SF50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

• 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. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.