Biological Science Laboratory Technician

Biological Science Laboratory Technician

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Tucson, Arizona

Salary Range: $62893 - $81765 Per Year

Job Summary: The position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at a VA Medical Center (VAMC) in the Research and Development (R&D) Service. As a Biological Science Laboratory Technician, the employee is fully responsible to ensure biomedical laboratory processes and procedures in a comprehensive research setting, providing day-to-day laboratory management and site support for the VA Research Program.

Major Duties:

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** NOTE: This is a full-time, TEMPORARY (not-to-exceed 1 year) position. This appointment may be renewed for additional service in accordance with Agency needs. Temporary positions do not offer health or life insurance benefits and may be terminated at any time before the expiration date. The appointment to a temporary position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment. Major duties and responsibilities include: Managing the laboratory, including scheduling of experiments, ordering of laboratory supplies, tracking chemical inventory and waste, and general laboratory maintenance. Using technical methods and procedures, management practices, agency policies and programs, and extensive familiarity with the methods and practices of the science(s) or discipline(s) supported to design, coordinate. Collaborating with the Principal lnvestigator (PI) in most phases of the research process (development of original hypothesis and proposal excepted) and assuming full technical and operational responsibility for three or more phases. Development of a study plan, e.g., establishment of a procedure, outline of the methods to be used, and citation of the anticipated outcomes. Ensuring proper day-to-day operation of an individual laboratory or a multiphase project wherein recurring types of tests are performed, and sufficient precedent exists to obviate the need for the on-site, day-to-day presence of the Pl. Creating experimental plans and procedures to provide clear, unbiased guidance to principal investigators and laboratory staff performing a wide range of experimental laboratory techniques. Performing a large variety of experimental procedures and techniques to test research hypotheses including biochemical, molecular, cellular, animal and/or human tissue samples. Maintaining an accurate, organized, and up-to-date laboratory records. Organizing and evaluating data across multiple experiments, technicians, and/or techniques/instrumentation. Keeping Principal Investigator apprised of laboratory function and efficiency, providing guidance and suggestions for troubleshooting, new experimental techniques and approaches. Providing technical training to other laboratory staff and guidance to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in the laboratory. Conducting library research on theoretical and scientific aspects of the experiments. Initiating and participating in grant and manuscript preparation and writing, with commensurate recognition with authorship. Resolving of any administrative concerns and otherwise planning for and organizing the practical aspects of the study or experiment. Performing other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Biological Science Laboratory Technician/PD99487S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-9 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-8 grade level in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. The specialized experience required for some positions in this series is normally work performed in a controlled environment. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: research activity or control program work; nursery work that required the growing and maintenance of plants in a controlled environment; work comparable to that with a large dairy farm where production records, animal environment, and sanitary conditions were kept in accordance with modern dairy practice. Farming experience that was not performed in a controlled environment, or experience as a laborer who was not responsible for planning and scheduling his/her own work, but only performed assigned tasks, would not qualify as specialized experience. ADDITIONAL SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE INCLUDES: Designing, coordinating, and executing experimental projects including scheduling of experiments, ordering of laboratory supplies, tracking chemical inventory and waste, and general laboratory maintenance; performing a large variety of experimental procedures and techniques to test research hypotheses including biochemical, molecular, cellular, animal and/or human tissue samples. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.) 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/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 05/02/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12934802. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. 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. 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/ Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Application Deadline: 2026-05-02