Surgical Technician

Duties described below are at the full-performance level. Duties assigned at a lower grade level will be of more limited scope performed with less independence and limited complexity; duties will be commensurate with the grade of selected employee.

Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Functions as the primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments supplies and equipment.
• Prepares organizes and maintains highly complex sterile surgical setups such as lasers microscopes air-powered fiber optic and laparoscopic equipment.
• Utilizes universal safety precautions when handling specimens supplies and equipment.
• Assists the surgical team in quality improvement activities.
• Assists the surgeon by performing such procedures as preparing skin grafts suctioning holding retractors applying skin staples and cutting sutures.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday PM shift with flexibility to meet the needs of the service.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD00228-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory qualification and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued dentification 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)

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 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.

Upon completion of your probationary period period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks equivalent to the GS-05 grade level;
For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks equivalent to the GS-06 grade level;

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 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 and education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists speech pathologists medical officers and optometrists. Therefore technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge methods and techniques of the position to be addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement above the following is the experience required to qualify for this position at the GS-06 and GS-07 grade level.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: assisting in positioning patients assisting in managing reusable medical equipment assisting in bedside procedures assisting with surgeries setting up sterile kits maintaining surgical equipment etc.

GS-06: A minimum of one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level experience:

• Assisting in positioning patients.
• Assisting in general surgery plastic surgery urology surgery.
• Performs a variety of sterilization procedures.
• Performs administrative support work.

GS-07: A minimum of one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 grade level:

• Functions as the primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments supplies and equipment.
• Prepare organize and maintain highly complex sterile surgical setups such as lasers microscopes air-powered fiber optic and laparoscopic equipment.
• Assists in training residents medical students nursing students and other members of the surgical team.
• Handles instruments supplies and equipment during surgical procedures.

OR

One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

Physical Requirements: Duties regularly require providing manual assistance in lifting and positioning patients most of who are at stages of unconsciousness. There are extensive periods of regular and recurring standing walking bending lifting pushing reaching and prolonged stretching to provide easy accessibility of instruments and supplies for the surgeon. The surgical technician must be dexterous in passing instruments to surgeons without compromising principles of aseptic technique and in a manner requiring little or no effort from the surgeon.

For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at

Required Experience:

IC