Air Conditioning Equipment Operator

Air Conditioning Equipment Operator

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Houston, Texas

Salary Range: $32.22 - $37.65 Per Hour

Job Summary: The Air Conditioning Equipment Operator in this position serves independently as a journeyman Air Conditioning Equipment Operator in the Facilities Management Service Line, Engineering Section, Preventative Maintenance (PM) Shop at the Michael E DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MEDVAMC). The incumbent performs duties of a broad scope to include preventive maintenance, air conditioning, refrigeration, heating, ventilation, humidification, and air monitoring using electronic controls.

Major Duties:

• Major Duties: Monitor the chilled water supply temperature, chilled water return temperature, and the chiller load in KW through the Graphic Control Center. Identify malfunctioning monitoring signals, traces minor circuits, and makes interruptions to reactivate circuit signals and/or switch systems to manual operations. Maintain and repair the pneumatic air conditioning control. Monitor intrusion alarms, air handlers, exhaust fans, diesel powered generators, walk-in boxes, tower fans, fire pumps, booster pumps, control air compressors, medical air compressors, heat exchangers and refrigerant compressors to ensure load requirements are consistently met. Calibrate and set up transmitters, thermostats, and other related pneumatic controls. Perform preventive maintenance on equipment, conducts required inspections, troubleshoots all air handling units, and air conditioning systems, checks steam humidifiers, and electric controls on a regular basis. Perform annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly preventive maintenance on all HVAC systems. Operate a Graphic Control Center (CBBAS), controlling the temperature and humidity of designated areas throughout the facility from one central location. Use tools and power equipment known to the refrigeration and air conditioning trade, such as refrigerant, electronic lead detectors and gauges, halide torches, volt-meters, psychrometers and charts, static pressure and charging gauges, instruments, vacuum pumps, oxyacetylene brazing equipment, wrenches, ratchets, flaring tools, lever tub bender, tubing cutter vibration analyzer, manometers, tachometers, etc. Read and interpret technical directives, drawings, sketches, mechanical diagrams, flow diagrams, and electrical schematics to visualize all phases of the work to be performed. Receives guidance from service and parts manuals issued by various manufacturers describing assemblies, components, and part replacements. Conduct mechanical checks of the chiller plants, water pumps, cooling towers and chemical feed systems by logging hourly gauge readings and conducting walk-through visual inspections to insure proper chiller plant operation. Apply knowledge of codes and safety regulations pertaining to the air conditioning/ refrigeration field and adheres strictly to all such regulations. Monitor the fire alarm signal panel. Perform alignment of a motor shaft to the pump within .005 to under .00 plus. Measure line voltage to a various air conditioning units. Measure compressor amperage. Works from ladders, scaffolding and /or platforms where systems are in hard-to-reach places. Keep track of inventory, tools, and equipment assigned, safeguarding such material from loss or theft and assuring continuous accountability of such. Select proper replacement parts and modification kits and identifies materials and mechanisms. Work Schedule: Tuesday- Saturday, 7:30am - 4:00pm & 3:30 pm - Midnight; subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Position Description Title/PD#: Air Conditioning Equipment Operator/PD03285A

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards. SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements: Ability to Do the Work of the Position without More Than Normal Supervision Dexterity and Safety Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading) Measuring Instruments Operation of Equipment/Machinery Technical Practices 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. Preferred Experience: 3-5 years experience in working in plant operations and building automation systems. Working with many other trades like carpenters, maintenance mechanics, electricians, utility systems operators, plumbers, electronic industrial control mechanics, and others. Physical Requirements/Working Conditions: Heavy lifting (45 pounds and over), moderate lifting (15-44 pounds), moderate carrying (15-44 pounds), pulling hand over hand (2 hours), pushing (2 hours), use of fingers, both hands required, walking (8 hours), standing (8 hours), crawling (8 hours), kneeling (3 hours), repeated bending (2 hours), climbing, legs only (2 hours), climbing, use of legs and arms, both legs required, operation of crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, both eyes required, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, hearing (aid may be permitted), hearing without aid. Environmental Factors-outside and inside, excessive heat, excessive cold, excessive humidity, excessive dampness or chilling, dry atmosphere conditions, excessive noise (intermittent), constant noise, dust, silica, asbestos, etc., fumes, smoke, or gases, solvents (degreasing agents), grease and oils, radiant energy, electrical energy, slippery or uneven walking surfaces, working around machinery with moving parts, working around moving objects or vehicles, working on ladders or scaffolding, working below ground, unusual fatigue factors (odd weather events), working with hands in water, vibration, working closely with others, working alone and protracted or irregular hours of work.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/17/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12829733. 1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. 2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-17