Environmental Protection Specialist

Full Job Description

This position serves as the Green Environmental Systems Manager for the Lexington VA Health Care System, organizationally reporting to the Safety and Occupational Health Manager, under the Associate Director.

Environmental Protection Specialists, also known as GEMS Program Managers, play an essential role in the GEMS Program and apply specialized knowledge of planning and administering environmental compliance and environmental sustainability, using the Environmental Management Systems format.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/30/2026.

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.

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-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of Specialized Experience may include, but are not limited to: 1.

knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods of program or administrative work relating to environmental protection program 2.

knowledge of one or more environmental sciences or related fields (e.g.

biology, ecology, chemistry, hydrology, radiation physics, environmental law, real property functions, or statistics) sufficient to assess and correlate environmental data, verify results, and discuss technical aspects of work with scientists, engineers, and other environmental experts 3.

knowledge of environmental laws and regulations 4. ability to plan, organize, implement, and evaluate environmental programs 5.

knowledge of the policies, organization, operations, work practices, and environmental parameters of regulated industries OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must meet one of the following education requirements: Ph. D.

or equivalent doctoral degree 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate work leading to such a degree LL.M. (if related to Environmental Protection).

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond.

Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade level, 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 the 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.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Compliance Inspection Leadership Planning and Evaluating Technical Competence 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 includes frequent audits of waste storage areas and many other areas of the health care system, collection and consolidation of wastes across the health care system, and clean-up of hazardous materials and wastes.

The work involves walking, standing, bending, hand dexterity, climbing, carrying of items, and driving of government motor vehicles.

During audits and inspections, there is regular exposure to all the hazards and discomforts to which workers in the areas are subjected This may include toxic chemicals, biohazards, physical stressors, and safety hazards.

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/.

Major Duties:

Duties Include but may not be limited to the following: Develop and implement health care system environmental policies, procedures, process improvements, and systems for environmental compliance and environmental management systems, focusing on meeting compliance requirements while reducing generation of wastes and increasing overall sustainability of the health care system Review how expansion, modification, closures of existing facilities and infrastructure and new construction of structures and infrastructures will impact the environmental footprint of the health care system.

The employee will provide sustainable solutions to minimize impacts to human health and the environment Maintains current files of local, state, and federal pollution control regulations and ensures that documentation is maintained to demonstrate compliance with regulations Planning, and implementation of program policy and procedures ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations, as well as timely tracking of regulatory deadlines, shipping schedules, and hazardous waste locations and volumes Develop and implement quality control and quality assurance practices for existing processes as well as for any new processes introduced or modified.

The employee will collect, maintain, and evaluate data for significant trends leading to process improvements Evaluates the need for additional or improved facilities and personnel development pursuant to applicable local, state, and federal requirements.

Analyzes and proposes recommendations concerning capital improvement of expenditures affecting specific programs and service areas Functions as the lead and Subject Matter Expert on any new and emerging contaminant and pollution issues and is expected to coordinate all associated activities with reducing, removing, and preventing pollution.

The employee will display initiative and originality in the solution of varied, complex, an often obscure problems, as well as apply new scientific development and theories to critical and novel problems Provides expertise to ensure that the contractor follows the contract to ensure that the health care system maintains compliance with regulations and requirements Makes well informed, effective and timely decisions based on mission and guidelines of organization, demand of customers, and understands how these decisions impact the various reporting levels of the medical center, the Network and VACO, as well as other peer professionals in the VA and the surrounding community Advise organizations and services on procedural methods and process improvements, lead sustainability evaluations that cover a wide variety of environmental aspects and impacts and will oversee other environmental investigations and remedial actions Communicates orally and in writing with many employees in the health care system including Service Chiefs, Supervisors, Union Officials, Industrial Hygienist, Physicians, Safety and Engineer Specialist in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience internal and external to the organization Advises senior level management officials within the health care systems on the status of environmental programs and recommends changes in the process to meet new environmental requirements and/or reduce environmental impact Responsible for coordinating spill response, responding as needed, and reporting releases to appropriate entities and agencies.

Manages the spill prevention and response plan.

Lead facility self-assessments, conduct significant surveys and inspections to determine compliance with applicable state, local, and federal environmental regulations and evaluate program implementation Manages environmental permits, ensuring that permits are written, followed, and modified as needed and completes all required actions to avoid violating permit requirements.

Works with other services, including Engineering, to ensure that permits are written, updated, and submitted as required Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad Hoc telework.

Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Environmental Protection Specialist/PD30530-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized