Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist - Information Systems

Description:

Serves as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) specialized in information systems within a Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) department at the facility. Works in support of the medical equipment management program. In addition to duties at the full performance level, the BESS maintains medical servers and networks, diagnostic software, virtual platforms, and clinical applications software.

Requirements:

*** This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until March 31, 2026 or until the position is filled. The initial cutoff date for referral of eligible applications will be December 1, 2025. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as needed basis until positions are filled. ***

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements :

Citizenship . Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

English Language Proficiency . Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Education, Experience, or Certification .

1. Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field; OR
2. Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
3. Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program; OR
4. Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
5. Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship; OR
6. Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR
7. Hold or having ever held certification as a Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET), Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist (CRES), Certified Laboratory Equipment Specialist (CLES), or Certified Healthcare Technology Manager (CHTM). Continuous maintenance of certification is not required throughout VHA employment.

Foreign Education . To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials

Grandfathering Provision . Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard (11/26/2024) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and assignment held including positive education and certification. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or be changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but they may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
3. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations :
Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist - Information Systems, GS-12.

Experience . One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-11).

Assignments at the GS-11 level. Employees in this assignment serve as full performance level (FPL) BESSs responsible for managing multiple assignments, organizing, and independently prioritizing their work with minimal supervision. At this level, BESSs manage medical equipment and clinical systems including installation, planned maintenance, troubleshooting, repair, calibrations, electrical safety inspections, patient safety, cybersecurity, and decommissioning. They plan, implement, and provide technical and project oversight for medical equipment and clinical systems. BESSs develop technical requirements, draft requests for proposal (RFP) language, sole-source justifications, and statements of work (SOW). They conduct market research, product evaluations, evaluate contractor performance, and conduct pre-procurement assessments. They serve as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) to purchase medical equipment, maintenance and repair contracts, and facility projects as needed.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) . In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards.
2. Knowledge of advanced testing methods to troubleshoot networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces.
3. Skill in maintaining computer and server based medical equipment, databases, and software.
4. Skill in managing medical equipment and clinical system projects that interface with an electronic health record or other information systems.
5. Skill in applying cybersecurity standards to medical devices and clinical systems such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines.
6. Ability to apply information security tools including virus protection, software updates, and operating system patches.
7. Ability to establish a medical network including VLAN configuration, Internet Protocol addressing, and network security.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

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.