Healthcare Engineer - Fire Protection Engineer

Basic Requirements:

United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Education: Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or Architecture. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be from a school with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Engineering Accreditation Commission (excludes engineering technology) or National Council of Architectural Registration Boards curriculum. Examples of acceptable engineering and architectural degrees include, but are not limited to: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Architectural Engineering. Titles may vary from educational institutions and change over time;

OR

Evidence of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam with a bachelor's degree. Evidence can be in the form of an Engineering in Training certificate issued from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico, or test results from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) identifying a passing score;

OR

Evidence of current professional registration or licensure as a Professional Engineer or Architect from any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico.

English Language Proficiency: Healthcare Engineer candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38
U.S.C. § 7403 (f).

Grandfathering Provision. All individuals employed in VHA in this occupational series or in another occupational series performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of this qualification standard, are considered to have met all the qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education that is part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements described above, all applicants must meet the grade requirements below.

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-13);
and Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to meeting the experience requirements for this grade level, all applicants must fully demonstrate the following KSAs:

(a) Knowledge of current and evolving concepts and principles of general engineering to resolve novel or obscure problems; extend and modify techniques; develop new approaches that guide other engineers who solve a variety of technical problems; and/or apply new, innovative or experimental advanced engineering theories, developments or practices to problems or studies not susceptible to treatment by acceptable methods.
(b) Skill in construction, capital planning and multiple healthcare system portfolio management, inclusive of budget development and tracking.
(c) Skill in collaborating with persons having diverse viewpoints, goals or objectives to achieve a common understanding of the problem and a satisfactory solution of sometimes controversial and far-reaching matters through active participation in conferences, meetings or presentations.
(d) Ability to interpret broad guidelines and exercise considerable judgment and ingenuity in interpreting and adapting existing guides; in developing new and improved hypotheses, concepts or approaches not previously tested or reported; and/or in developing new policies that advance the organization.
(e) Ability to coordinate and interact with regional facilities, national and Department-level staff for the implementation and coordination of policies and program plans to apply prioritization methodologies that align facilities' capital asset requests and develop infrastructure options that result in the efficacious use of a regional healthcare organization capital strategic plan.
(f) Ability to adapt and apply trends in healthcare delivery systems that impact long-term capital assets (such as aging equipment and physical plants) for regionally integrated healthcare systems.
(g) Ability to consult and collaborate with all organizational levels in a national healthcare organization, outside organizations and businesses regarding both strategic and financial activities of a regional healthcare organization.

Assignment. For all assignments above the journey level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. This position serves as the national or VISN engineer for all activities related to engineering operations, compliance and/or construction and leases (major, minor, clinical specific initiative-inclusive of high-tech, high-cost medical equipment installations and nonrecurring maintenance) and capital planning to include budget approval, funding allocation and activation. Healthcare Engineers oversee project design programs for all VAMCs and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) by reviewing, evaluating and coordinating planning data such as projected space requirements and strategic, operational, program and design requirements. They coordinate national or VISN capital investment submissions and provide guidance on investment categories, strategies, financial planning and budgeting. Healthcare Engineers provide technical expertise on capital asset proposals and develop guidelines and data tools in completing the application,
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Earned Value Analysis, Alternatives Analysis and Risk Analysis. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Selective Placement Factor - To be qualified, you must also meet the Selective Placement Factor

• Knowledge of fire protection and life safety programs and functional areas, including full professional competence in Fire Protection Engineering and knowledge of National Fire Protection Association Codes and standards including, but not limited to, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code.

Preferred Experience: Five years of experience in the following:
(a) Applying and interpreting National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes and Standards, including but not limited to, NFPA 101 and all codes and standards referenced therein.
(b) Designing or reviewing automatic sprinkler and fire alarm systems, including: (1) Automatic sprinkler and fire alarm system shop drawings (2) Automatic sprinkler system hydraulic calculations (3) Fire alarm system voltage drop and battery calculations.
(c) Designing health care facilities, operation of health care facilities, inspecting and acceptance testing of fire protection systems, and in application and interpretation of the Environment of Care (EC) and Life Safety (LS) Standards of The Joint Commission.
(d) Participating in national consensus codes and standards development including participation on technical committees of NFPA Codes and Standards including, but not limited to, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code.


Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.