Lead Firefighter (Basic Life Support)

Lead Firefighter (Basic Life Support)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Tomah, Wisconsin

Salary Range: $55328 - $71932 Per Year

Job Summary: This position works under the general supervision of the Supervisory Firefighter (Captain) and supervision by the Assistant Fire Chief. The primary purpose of this position is to function as a General Schedule Leader over at least three lower graded staff performing work to control and extinguish fires, rescue persons endangered by fire, and reduce or eliminate potential fire hazards.

Major Duties:

• Major duties: Distributes and balances the workload among employees in accordance with established work-flow or job specialization, assure timely accomplishment of the assigned workload, and assure that each employee has enough work to keep busy. Instructs employees in specific tasks and job techniques and make available written instructions, reference materials and supplies. Checks on work in progress or spot checks work not requiring review and reviews completed work to see that supervisor's instruction on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. Keeps in touch with the status and progress of work, and makes day- to- day adjustments in accordance with established priorities, obtaining assistance from the supervisor on problems that may arise, such as backlogs which cannot be disposed of promptly. Gives on the job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices. Provides information to supervisor as requested concerning promotions, reassignment, recognition of outstanding performance, and personnel needs. Effectively controlling and extinguishing fires, operates various nozzles and hose lines, makes connections to, and operates fire hydrants, performs forcible entries, ventilates structures, carries, raises, and lowers ground ladders, performs, or assists in rescue operations, uses a variety of hand tools, hydraulic tools, portable fire extinguishers, and performs salvage and overhaul. Performs specialized rescues, hazardous materials spill response and serves as a driver operator of motorized firefighting vehicles. Provides stand-by, and other protective measures as required for hazardous operations such as, helicopter landings and liquid oxygen deliveries. This would include response during hazardous weather conditions. As a member of the rescue crew, the incumbent may be involved with the duty of rescue from bodies of water, response to and control of hazardous materials spills, as well as rescue from fire. Operate pumps, foam generators, and other specialized firefighting equipment, determining proper pressures for the type of nozzle or equipment, size of hose, and distance to be covered. Incumbent keeps close watch on water supply and pressure, keeping fire attack and rescue personnel advised so they may act accordingly. Administers Basic Life Support care in accordance with established medical standards/procedures. Incumbent performs initial and on-going focused patient assessment and physical examination to determine priority of patient care based upon initial findings, which may include providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), using the automated external defibrillation (AED) and the use of the LUCAS device. Take, record, and monitor patient's baseline vital signs. Incumbent will attempt to ascertain whether the patient has preexisting medical problems and to obtain a comprehensive drug history from the patient. Prepares the appropriate and relevant patient documentation to ensure medical requirements are met and accurately reported. Uses and maintains care of emergency equipment such as backboards, suction devices, AED, splints, oxygen delivery systems, and stretchers; properly deposes of biohazard materials; and replaces medical and expendable supplies. Work Schedule: Full time, 72 hrs per week, 144 hrs per pay period, on a schedule of 48hrs on 72hrs off, 48hrs on 72hrs off, and 48hrs on then 48hrs off. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Firefighter (Basic Life Support)/PD24220A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/12/2025. 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 8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 7. 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 may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-8 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-7) in the federal service. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates the particular competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position. Such duties may include (1) Performs initial and on-going focused patient assessment and physical examination; (2) Takes, records, and monitors patient's baseline vital signs including temperature, blood pressure, and pulse; (3) Manages respiratory and cardiac emergencies to include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), bag-valve-mask resuscitation, or automatic external defibrillation (AED); (4) Performs fire inspection duties in areas where hazards are expected to be encountered; (5) Maintains thorough familiarity with the layout and contents of buildings, locations of fire protection systems, and other similar characteristics of the installation; (6) Conducts fire prevention training to hospital staff which includes conducting fire drills, fire extinguisher training, instructing employees in fire safety measures, and conducting Fire Prevention Week activities. Local, State, and Federal fire prevention ordinances and building codes; (7) Inspects medical and psychological facilities, multiple story buildings, administrative buildings, public assemblies, industrial shops, warehouses and residential quarters for fire safety violations and other conditions contributing to more extensive fire hazards; (8) Operates and uses fire extinguishing equipment carried on the apparatus such as foam and dry chemical extinguishing agents; (9) Use of specialized rescue equipment and other fire and emergency skills; (10) Certification and Ability to drive/operate complex fire department firefighting apparatus and equipment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Decision Making Interpersonal Skills Oral Communication Technical Competence 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 Firefighter/EMT must maintain an adequate level of physical fitness to react quickly and have the stamina to endure the physical exertion and stress of firefighting, they must complete 1 hour of physical activity per day per the NFPA 1500 and annually complete a Fire Department Physical Agility Test outline in NFPA 1500 and NFPA 1583. Fire Department personnel must complete an annual Firefighter physical with Employee Health to be cleared for duty. Incumbent must maintain physical condition to don personal protective equipment consisting of coat, helmet, boots, gloves, bunker pants, and self-contained breathing apparatus, which weighs 75 pounds. Incumbent must wear this equipment when responding to and during all emergency calls regardless of temperature. Incumbent is expected to enter buildings and atmospheres that are unsafe due to fire, oxygen deficiencies, etc. and perform very strenuous types of work carrying heavy equipment and victims. The requirements of the job are such that the incumbent must maintain alertness, self-control and emotional stability when working under conditions of stress, confusion, panic and where physical injury or death are present. 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 12/12/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12846631. 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/ The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible displaced 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 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: 2025-12-12