Industrial Hygienist

Description:

The Industrial Hygienist - Research in the Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) service for Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center reports to the Supervisory Safety Manager and serves as a technical and program management expert in the Industrial Hygiene/Occupational Health Program.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/02/2026.

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-09. 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.

This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution.

Basic 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 of Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene(ABIH)).

Note: 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.
NOTE: Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable.

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

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Develop and oversee the Industrial Hygiene Program encompassing environmental monitoring, recordkeeping, medical surveillance, personal protection equipment, hazardous materials management, asbestos control, and staff training. Plan and conduct evaluations of work operations involving potentially hazardous environmental conditions, analyze findings, and recommend corrective measures and controls. Prepare technical reports that identify health hazards and recommend measures for their reduction or elimination. Assist facility managers in developing and reviewing safety training requirements. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position. This graduate education must have provided you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of an Industrial Hygienist. NOTE : Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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 graduate level education (beyond a Master's or equivalent graduate degree) the second year o) as described above, which may be used to meet total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include graduate courses that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

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

• Compliance
• Education and Training
• Health Risk Analysis
• Research
• Safety Engineering

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: Office as well as field work required. Field inspections require moderate physical exertion in carrying equipment, as well as extended periods of walking and standing.

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/ .