** Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist**

**Department of Veterans Affairs**

**Location**

1 vacancy in the following location:

** Relocation expenses reimbursed**

No

** Telework eligible**

No

**Duties**

** Summary**

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) provides clinical and administrative support to staff, patients, and administrators for all matters of concern relating to the facility wide lifecycle management of medical equipment. Biomedical support requires the application of engineering and mechanical concepts and methodology to provide lifecycle management and technical support of diagnostic, and to improve clinical care provided by doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff of the VA.

**Responsibilities**

This summary and the responsibilities for this announcement represent the GS-11 or Full Performance Level (FPL) of the BESS position. GS-5 is the entry level, the GS-7 level is the developmental level I and the GS-9 is the developmental level II are each represented by its own functional statement.Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Lifecycle management of all medical systems such as imaging, lab analyzers, life support, dialysis, and

monitoring to include physical and network support.

Coordinates and works effectively with other facility support departments including but not limited to Facilities Management Service (FMS), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Patient Safety, Sterile Processing Service (SPS), Logistics, Contracting, Informatics, and Environmental Management Service (EMS). Specific tasks include but are not limited to incoming inspections, regular and unscheduled maintenance, and planning for end of life replacement in conjunction with clinical services. Utilizes common test equipment including, but not limited to patient simulators, pulse generators, network analyzers, test phantoms, electrical safety analyzers, oscilloscopes, and multimeters.

Maintains functional knowledge of relevant safety codes and standards of regulatory bodies including, but not limited to, The Joint Commission (TJC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).

Documents all work performed in the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). This documentation is completed in accordance with regulatory body requirements, the Office of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Documentation of Services policies and guidelines, and other VA requirements.

Applies basic networking principles to resolve medical system communication issues including, but not limited to, node to server failures. Adheres to VA Medical Device Cyber Security policies and procedures in pre procurement, during system implementation, and throughout the life of the system. Loads operating system (OS) and clinical application software as needed. Executes VA policy when responding to network incident response (due to infection, loss of services due to policy changes).

Maintains knowledge of the state of the art in medical technology, including scientific advances, network protocols, and vendor changes. Focuses on professional development in all areas of medical technology lifecycle management including technical skills. Knowledge and training is obtained from formal (conference, vendor-provided classes) or informal (magazines, articles, peer training) means.

Provides training and education as appropriate to medical technology end users and clinical staff.

Provides mentoring and technical training to peers and BESS at developmental levels.

Additional duties are performed as assigned by supervisor related to maintenance, remediation, and tracking of medical systems (action items, special projects, etc.) to meet mission critical requirements. May be asked to assist in other administrative duties as well, including participating in hiring panels.

**Work Schedule:** Monday - Friday; 8:00 - 4:30pm

**Fi****nancial Disclosure Report:** Not required **Travel Required**

Not required

** Supervisory status**

Yes

** Promotion Potential**

11

**Requirements**

** Conditions of Employment**

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job

Designated and/or random drug testing may be required

Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

You may be required to serve a probationary period

Subject to a background/security investigation

Must be proficient in written and spoken English

Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process ** Qualifications**

**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.

**Experience and Education**. Associates degree in Biomedical Electronics Technology, Biomedical Equipment Technology or Biomedical Engineering Technology or in a related technical field such as Electronic Technology or Information Technology and two years of experience as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, Biomedical Equipment Technician, Field Service Engineer, Medical Equipment Repairer, or Information Technology Specialist.

**Or**,

Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering Technology or in a related field such as Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) or Information Technology.

**Or**,

Completion of a military training program in biomedical equipment and two years of experience as a Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist or Biomedical Equipment Technician, Field Service Engineer, Medical Equipment Repairer or Information Technology Specialist.

**Licensure/Certification/Registration**. None

**Physical Requirements**. See Below also (VA Directive and Handbook 5019).

**English Language Proficiency**. Candidates will not be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. **GRADE DETERMINATIONS**. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

**Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, GS-5** (Entry Level)

**Experience or Education**. None beyond basic requirements.

**Assignment**. This is an entry level BESS position. Employees at this level receive guidance from more experienced BESS staff members and require frequent direction from a supervisor. The incumbent acquires training from in-house as well as outside sources (e.g. attendance in community college courses, vendor service schools, conferences/seminars, etc.) to improve working knowledge of medical equipment, including current technology and future advances. This employee will provide support of basic medical equipment and systems to include, but not limited to: installation, preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, repair, calibrations and safety inspections.

**Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, GS-7 (**Developmental Level 1)

**Experience.** At least one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

**Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs**). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Ability to read, interpret, and apply a great variety of technical data such as schematic drawings, wiring diagrams, table charts, mathematical expressions and formulas.

(b) Ability to learn equipment maintenance, operating procedures, and repair procedures from training materials and courses.

(c) Fundamental knowledge of electronics to include analog, digital and microprocessor theory, pneumatics, hydraulics, optics, electro-mechanics, physics, basic networking, and chemistry.

(d) Knowledge of the use of standard level test equipment to include, but not limited to, multi-meters, electrical safety analyz