Department of Veterans Affairs

Utility Systems Repairer Operator Leader

Charleston, South Carolina Full time

Utility Systems Repairer Operator Leader

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Charleston, South Carolina

Salary Range: $33.78 - $39.41 Per Hour

Job Summary: The Utilities System Repairer-Operator (USRO) Leader performs routine maintenance and repairs to facilities, structures, equipment, and related fixtures primarily at Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, SC and on occasion, incumbent may be required to perform work at other associated work environments including healthcare, laboratory, industrial, administrative, food preparation, soiled and sterile areas and pipe basement, and other locations as needed.

Major Duties:

  • The Utilities System Repairer-Operator (USRO) Leader performs a variety of tasks involved in the steam and chilled water generating and distribution plant, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems/controls/monitors, domestic hot/cold water distribution systems, medium pressure air systems, medical gas alarm systems, fire alarm/suppression systems, fuel distribution systems for the boiler/electrical generation systems, energy transfer systems and associated electrical components of the above systems. Duties include but not limited to: Ability to start, stop and regulate the utility or utilities for optimum efficiency and troubleshoot, maintain, and repair the associated equipment and distribution systems. Knowledge of the locations and functions of the associated equipment and distribution systems is required. Incumbent, while working other than normal business hours, is unsupervised and acts in a decision-making capacity. Responsible for ensuring that all operational techniques and maintenance procedures are executed in accordance with established guidelines and procedures. Required to differentiate emergency trouble calls from routine corrective actions and has the authority to initiate emergency corrective procedures for either in house or contract staff. Operates the Medical Center's centralized chilled water plant, which supplies chilled water for the HVAC system for the medical center campus including laboratories, operating rooms, offices, support, and other buildings. Utilizes the Building Anemometer System (BAS) to control and monitor the HVAC generation, distribution and termination components that consists of multiple chillers, air handling units and air terminal units. Responsible for preventive maintenance and repairs of all steam plant and chiller plant equipment and maintaining the plant in a clean, safe working environment. Works with other workers to modify and balance various elements of systems that are designed to meet a wide variety of extreme and critical conditions. Ensures all work orders are completed by utility plant staff within the time frame indicated by the Supervisor. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm. Work schedule subject to change based on the needs of the agency. Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Repairer Operator Leader/PD105630

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/17/2025. 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: Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair Interpret Instructions, Specifications (includes blueprint reading) Lead or Supervise Materials Measuring Instruments Production Support Service Technical Practices Use and Maintain Hand Tools (Electrical Work) 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/Working Conditions: The work requires a considerable amount of standing, stooping, bending, kneeling, climbing, and working in tiring and/or uncomfortable positions. The incumbent may work from ladders and scaffolding. When operating equipment, the worker may be under a great deal of strain from constant reaching, bending, turning, and moving of hands, arms, feet, legs, and by the vibration and jerking of the equipment. The incumbent carries, lifts, and handles parts and equipment weighing up to 50 pounds and may occasionally exceed 50 pounds

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 12/17/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12838519. 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. 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. 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) 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: 2025-12-17