Department: Department of Veterans Affairs
Location(s): Bedford, Massachusetts
Salary Range: $37.68 - $43.96 Per Hour
Job Summary: This position serves as a Pipefitter within the Engineering Service at the VA Medical Center, located in Bedford, MA. The primary functions include working with pipes and fittings from a range of high pressure to low pressure steam.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: (SCREEN-OUT): Must have the ability to perform the duties of the work of a Pipefitter (WG-10) without more than normal supervision. Related Journeyman skill level experience includes: safely and independently performing pipefitter work assignments; reading and following blueprints, building plans, schematics and specifications; estimating accurately the time and materials required to install, repair, or replace equipment or components; checking, troubleshooting, repairing, replacing all types of low to high pressure piping and steam systems; troubleshoots, repairs, and diagnoses problems with facility steam and heating control devices; properly selecting and using tools, parts and materials to accomplish a task quickly, neatly and safely; and using hand and power tools of the trade, i.e., pipe threader, sewer augers, acetylene torch, reciprocation saws, corded and battery-powered drills, pipe cutters, pipe wrench, hammer drills, and other common hand tools of the trade. A Quality Ranking Factor* has been requested by the facility to help determine which of the basically qualified applicants are likely to be better qualified for a position. The quality ranking factor for this position are: Do you possess a current, valid journeyman plumbing license? *Quality Ranking Factors are skills, knowledge, abilities, or other worker characteristics which could be expected to result in superior performance on the job. Quality ranking factors will not be used for screening, but may be used as ranking criteria. Applicants with higher proficiency levels may rank above those with lower proficiency levels on a quality ranking factor. PHYSICAL EFFORT AND WORK CONDITIONS: Employee will make repairs and installations from ladders, scaffolding and platforms, and where the systems and equipment worked on are in hard-to-reach places. Employee will be standing, stooping, bending, kneeling, climbing and working in tiring and uncomfortable positions. Employee will frequently handle, lift, carry and set up parts and equipment that weigh up to 50 pounds. Occasionally items may weigh more than 50 pounds. Work is done inside and outside, and is usually dirty, dusty, greasy, and smelly. There is frequent exposure to the possibility of uncomfortable heat conditions. The employee is exposed to the possibility of strains, cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, and infections. The employee is occasionally exposed to the possibility of broken bones. Employee may be required to work in areas that have asbestos containing materials and will, therefore, be required to use personal protective equipment (PPE) including respirators and other equipment to prevent possible asbestos exposure. You will be responsible for completing respirator training, fit testing and training in the proper use and maintenance of general PPE. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualifications. For this position, the job element method is used to match what you, the applicant, can do against what the work calls for. Your knowledge, skills and abilities will be compared to the knowledge, skills and abilities (called job elements) needed for success. Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element (WG-2 and higher only; screen-outs are not applicable to WG-1). Applicants who appear to meet the screen out element are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated from consideration. The potential eligibles are rated against the remainder of the job elements. While a specific length of training and experience is not required, your responses to the questionnaire must be supported by detailed descriptions of your experience on your resume. You will be rated on the following Job Elements as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair Interpret Instructions, Specifications (includes blueprint reading) Measurement and Layout Quality Ranking Factor Technical Practices Troubleshooting Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Without more than normal supervision IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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.
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 03/24/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12905323. 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. For more information on how to apply using this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator within the office, contact the facility Human Resources Department at (781) 687-2000. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more before any Veterans preference points) for this vacancy. 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/.
Application Deadline: 2026-03-24