Environmental Protection Specialist

Description:

Incumbent serves as the Green Environmental Management Systems (GEMS) Program Manager for Robley Rex VA Medical Center (RRVAMC) Louisville, KY. This role is responsible for the overall GEMS Program at the which includes the one warehouse, one administrative building, and eight Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) located at Carrollton, Stonybrook, Fort Knox, Grayson County, New Albany IN, Scottsburg IN, Newburg, Greenwood, Mellwood warehouse, and Linn Station administrative building.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/10/2026.

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.

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 would typically 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 a masters degree.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Communications
• Computer Skills
• Project Management

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/ .