** Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS)**

**Department of Veterans Affairs**

**Location**

2 vacancies in the following location:

**Duties**

*The William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital is committed to fostering and sustaining an environment which celebrates diversity, provides equitable opportunities for employment and promotion, and supports inclusiveness in our culture. Together, we strive to create and maintain working and learning environments that promote professional growth and teamwork, and are inclusive, equitable and welcoming. We embrace our differences as individuals and unite as a team toward a common goal: to serve our nation's Veterans.*

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) provides clinical and administrative support to staff, patients, and administrators at the Madison VA Hospital and satellite clinics and CBOC's, 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, therapeutic devices, monitoring, and other equipment utilized in the practice of medicine, and to improve clinical care provided by doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff throughout VA.

**Major Duties:**

* Lifecycle management of all medical systems such as imaging, life support, dialysis, and monitoring to include physical and network support.

* Coordinates and works effectively with other facility support departments.

* Completes incoming inspections on equipment.

* Provides regular and unscheduled equipment maintenance.

* 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).

* Resolves medical system communication issues including.

* Functions as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and keeps appropriate certification levels.

* Investigates, remediates, and documents Repairable Medical Device (RMD) recalls and safety alerts issued through the VA Alerts and Recall Management System (ARMS) within established timeframes.

* Participates in local safety improvement processes such as Root Cause Analysis (RCA), safety work groups, and Environment of Care Rounds.

* Identifies hazards during routine job performance and takes action to ensure they are addressed and corrected.

* 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.

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

* May be tasked with leading and managing installation or upgrade projects for medical devices and systems.

* Represents Biomedical/Clinical Engineering department on committees and in meetings as delegated by supervisor.

**Work Schedule**: Multiple (potential for any day, potential for all shifts)

**Telework**: Not Available

**Virtual:** This is not a virtual position.

**Functional Statement #**: PD000000

**Relocation/Recruitment Incentives**: Not Authorized

**Permanent Change of Station (PCS):** Not Authorized

**Fi****nancial Disclosure Report:** Not required **Requirements**

** Conditions of Employment**

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

* Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

* Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

** Qualifications**

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 15 days of the closing date of this announcement.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

**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.

* **English Language Proficiency**. Biomedical Engineers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.

* **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.

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).

**Grade Determinations**:

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

Experience or Education. None beyond basic requirements.

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

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, multimeters, electrical safety analyzers, patient simulator, storage oscilloscopes, manometers, tachometers, etc.

(e) Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, medical equipment, and technology.

(f) Knowledge of basic networking, computer/server hardware/software and information technologies and computer virus protection software, available software patches and upgrades, and information security tools (i.e. Microsoft Office, Windows operating systems, McAfee, etc.).

**Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist, GS-9 (Dev