Description:
This position has been established to oversee and implement the Green Environmental Management Systems (GEMS) programs within the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS), Temple, TX. by ensuring the various clinical and administrative operations carrier out comply with all applicable regulations pertaining to environmental management, public health and safety, and the GEMS program and support and achieve VHA, VISN, and HCS GEMS performance requirements and goals.Requirements:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/20/2026.Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR)
Basic Requirements:
The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:
- A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science; OR
- A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene; OR
- Certification from the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)). CERTIFICATION REQUIRED
Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable.
Evaluation of Education
All science or engineering courses offered in fulfillment of the above requirements must be acceptable for credit toward the completion of a standard 4-year professional curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in science or engineering at an accredited college or university. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum.
Evaluation of Experience
Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls.
Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment.
In addition to the above, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of qualifying experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of qualifying experience is : knowledge of industrial hygiene concepts, principles and practices that enables the employee to conduct industrial hygiene studies, to develop sampling or control methods and to provide expert advice to staff in a broad range of industrial hygiene matters. Knowledge required in evaluating and applying methods and equipment to the practice of industrial hygiene, particularly in dealing with problems not readily treatable by standard methods. OR ,
- Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree . OR,
- Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. When combining education with experience, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
- Chemistry
- Environmental Engineering
- Health Risk Analysis
- Safety Engineering
- Managing Human Resources
- Information Management
- 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 requires the employee to carry a good deal of equipment and involves walking, standing, bending, climbing, or crawling during surveys.
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/ .