Utility Systems Operator

About the role

The incumbent serves as a Utility Systems Repairer-Operator in the Engineering Service at the West Texas VA Health Care System (WTVAHCS). As such, the incumbent is responsible for operating the high pressure boiler plant, chiller plant, HVAC graphic control system, and water treatment plant.

What you will do

• Incumbent works in both the Boiler and the Chiller Plants performing operation, maintenance, and repair of four high pressure boilers, three centrifugal chillers, three cooling towers, and an ice plant, including associated equipment.
• Boiler Plant operations, repair and maintenance duties include checking the control panels for the Boiler systems.
• Checks operating equipment in Boiler plant, hourly; monitors the fire alarm system; medical gas alarm panel; elevator emergency call systems; and checkpoint monitors for temperature and humidity.
• Repacks and replaces pumps, valves, greasing oil pumps, valves and control linkages.
• Maintains proper chemistry control of boiler feed water, and condensate return.
• Maintains the air conditioning plan and all peripheral equipment including air handling units, fan coil units, pumps, piping, etc.; heating and ventilation units, exhaust fans, and all other similar equipment involved in the air conditioning control room.
• Maintenance duties include making adjustments and repairs or replacing components of the central air conditioning system, all heating and ventilation units; exhaust fans and associated duct work.
• Responsible for maintenance and repair of closed systems for chilled water and air conditioning for units such as the Operating Room, Intensive care, etc. Checks the operation of EMCS and checkpoint systems.
• Responsible for maintaining an accurate and complete log of conditions and events, and the turnover of items requiring further attention to the appropriate shop.
• Work Schedule: 12:00am-8:00am, Five consecutive days on with 2 consecutive days off, occasional weekends and holidays.
• Position Description Title/PD#: Utility Systems Operator/PD00774A Physical Requirements: Incumbent must be able to climb stairways and ladders, lift heavy objects, and crawl and stoop in close spaces.
• Working Conditions: Incumbent will be subject to abnormal heat, noise, cold, toxic gas, and handling of poisonous chemicals.
• Mental application is a necessity due to the complexity of plant equipment and systems being monitored.
• Being alert for emergencies and equipment malfunction is a necessity.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job Subject to a background/suitability investigation Designated and/or random drug testing may be required Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 A complete application package; including Resume, Transcripts, etc. is required 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, 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.
• 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.
• Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

How you will be evaluated

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.

WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position.

USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages.

We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available.

Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume.

The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Documents you must provide

• Documents Accepted: Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) License Other (1) PCS Orders Performance Appraisal Professional Certification Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript Documents Required: Resume Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information.
• Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
• Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply.
• Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
• Applications are accepted online.
• Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

What to expect next

After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at ***

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service.

This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.