Summary
The Environmental Protection Specialist serves as the Green Environment Systems Manager (GEMS) for the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System located in Fort Meade, South Dakota or Hot Springs, South Dakota. The employee will apply specialized knowledge of planning and administering environmental compliance and environmental sustainability, using the Environmental Management Systems format.
Duties
***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major duties include but are not limited to: Planning and implementing program policy and procedures ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations, as well as timely tracking of regulatory deadlines, shipping schedules, and hazardous waste locations and volumes. Inspecting proper documentation for the transportation of hazardous materials and waste. Maintaining one hundred percent (100%) accountability of waste manifests. Managing environmental permits, ensuring that permits are written, followed, and modified as needed and completes all required actions to avoid violating permit requirements. Working with other services, including Engineering, to ensure that permits are written, updated, and submitted as required. Leading facility self-assessments, conduct significant surveys and inspections to determine compliance with applicable state, local, and federal environmental regulations and evaluate program implementation. Advising organizations and services on procedural methods and process improvements, lead sustainability evaluations that cover a wide variety of environmental aspects and impacts and will oversee other environmental investigations and remedial actions. Developing and implementing quality control and quality assurance practices for existing processes as well as for any new processes introduced or modified. Solving problems and improving the methods and processes carried out at medical facilities requiring the development, adaptation, and modification of precedents, methods, and procedures. Advising senior level management officials within the health care systems on the status of environmental programs and recommends changes in the process to meet new environmental requirements and/or reduce environmental impact. Performing other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Requirements
You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Must possess a current, valid state-issued Driver's License (NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore; please do not submit a copy of your license with your application package. If an interview is requested, you will be required to provide a copy of your current, valid state-issued Driver's License.) Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Education
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
How you will be evaluated
Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Customer Service Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Candidates who apply under "All U.S. Citizens" announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows: Best qualified - Applicants possessing the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications Very Highly Qualified - Applicants possessing the type and quality of experience that exceeds, to a very considerable extent, the minimum qualifications Highly Qualified - Applicants possessing the type and quality of experience that exceeds, to a considerable extent, the minimum qualifications Well qualified - Applicants possessing the type and quality of experience that marginally exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and who demonstrate average proficiency in most of the critical competencies Qualified - Applicants possessing the type and quality of experience that meets the minimum qualifications Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher). 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.