Hospital Housekeeping Officer

Hospital Housekeeping Officer

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Augusta, Maine

Salary Range: $105383 - $137000 Per Year

Job Summary: The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), New England Health Care Network (VISN 1), Medical Center, under the Environmental Management Services. The incumbent exercises complete management and program responsibility for all hospital housekeeping operations and ancillary functions.

Major Duties:

• The incumbent will exercise complete management and program responsibility for all hospital housekeeping operations and ancillary functions. Other duties include: Plans, organizes, directs, manages, reviews and evaluates an augmented program, which includes responsibility for Uniform Appropriation, Environmental Health and Sanitation, Pest Control, and Bio­hazardous Waste, management programs. This also includes the more traditional functions of waste management and maintenance of sanitary and visual cleanliness for hospital floors, ceilings, windows and walls, as well as, overseeing the management of the Medical Center's unique programs such as Fitness Centers, Fisher House, etc. Primary coordinator and liaison between Administrative Services and Clinical Services for epidemiology and infection control. Develops personnel management policies and effects all related personnel actions for the service staff. Ensures the establishment of adequate training program and compliance with Veterans Health Administration and/or local policies. Incumbent sets objectives, and coordinates program reviews and evaluations, resulting in a clean and aesthetically pleasing hospital environment. Serves as a member of the Director's top advisory or executive board and is thoroughly involved with the total medical center's mission. Serves on standing committees of the facility, such as the Administrative Executive Board and the Strategic Planning Board in addition to its subordinate entities and is extensively involved as a full member of multiple interdisciplinary committees. Participates in resolving a wide variety of hospital problems throughout the physical plant and outpatient clinics. Provides input to determine long- and short-range planning, for establishing overall policy, and budgeting for the medical center as well as for the Environmental Management Program and assists in formulating the overall hospital mission. As a member of the Strategic Planning Committee for the facility, acts as a primary focal point and advocate for management improvement within the facility and its dependent facilities. Serves as the primary coordinator and liaison between Administrative Services and Clinical Services for epidemiology and infection control. In conjunction with these duties, serves on the Infection Prevention and Surgical Services Committee. Consistently provides input to such areas as Clostridium difficile control, disinfection, handling, and disposal of biohazardous waste, bloodborne pathogen precautions and disposal of anti-neoplastic materials. Interprets local and agency policies and drafts policies for local facility approval. Administers labor management agreements and confers with Union Officials to resolve problems arising from interpretation or application of contract agreements. Delegates to subordinate supervisors and holds them accountable for the performance of their assigned duties. Ensures environmental regulatory compliance in the service by the effective implementation of applicable environmental programs and Standard Operating Procedures. Exercises independent judgment and initiative in directing the accomplishment of assigned work operations and program management responsibilities within the limits established by Facility Support Directorate. Ensures that all employees are knowledgeable of and comply with safety rules, that all employees receive pertinent and required safety training, and that safety programs are met. Reviews and evaluates activities within the Sanitation Section to measure the extent of achievement of objectives and to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning methods, techniques, and procedures. Trains, counsels, disciplines, evaluates, and promotes the growth of employees within the department. Develops and implements organization structures and operating plans and procedures to achieve program goals and determines needs for resources and their appropriate allocation and effectiveness. Prepares, maintains, and monitors work plans for staff utilization. Identifies training and competency needs and ensures on the job training is conducted to develop technical competence. Oversees various program areas/contracts (environmental sanitation, linen management, waste management and recycling, pest control). Responsible for implementing and managing the EMS activities within Center policies. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 40 Hours a Week, Monday-Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm, EST. Telework: Not Available. Position Description/PD#: Hospital Housekeeping Officer/PD03081A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May Be Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Authorized.

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/15/2025. Individual Occupational Requirements: Education Undergraduate Education: Major study -- chemistry or biological sciences, sanitary science or administration, institutional sanitation or administration, hospital administration, hotel administration, public administration, business administration, or other fields related to the position. Graduate Education: Major study -- public health or business administration with emphasis in hospital administration. OR Specialized Experience: Experience in two or more of the following areas, or other work related to the position to be filled: Experience that demonstrated a practical working knowledge of the basic principles of chemistry, biology, and bacteriology as applied to environmental sanitation, infection control, and to the choice and use of antimicrobial agents in the disinfection, sanitization, and/or sterilization of surfaces and equipment. Experience in laundry and linen management. Experience in interior design management. Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of waste management, including the requirements relating to hazardous, toxic, and infectious wastes and provisions for their final disposition. Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of pest management, including alternative methods of control and the selection and application of chemicals. 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 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Human Capital Management Interpersonal Skills Planning and Evaluating Strategic Thinking 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 incumbent walks throughout the medical center, and will be trained in all aspects of Environmental Management Service which requires stooping, bending, walking, lifting, and twisting. Occasional travel will be required. 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 12/15/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12844733. 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. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. 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: 2025-12-15