Summary The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service, is recruiting for a Lead Health Technician - Phlebotomy and Processing Section. Responsibilities Manage staff of GS-4, GS-5/6 in the outpatient blood draw room. Provide guidance and technical direction for accomplishing the work of the team by ensuring the work assignments of employees are carried out. Reviews work in progress and completed work while determining if the supervisor's instructions on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees. Obtains assistance and/or needed information from the supervisor on problems that may arise within the work area, i.e. backlogs of work, staffing issues, customer complaints, etc. Maintains a current knowledge of all phlebotomy and processing procedures, policies and protocols. Trains and/or arranges the training of team members (new and current) on established and updated phlebotomy and processing procedures, policies and protocols. Responsible for training, performing initial and annual competencies of job tasks, inventory, and patient flow in the outpatient blood draw area. Will insure HIPAA, OSHA, CAP and all other regulatory agencies standards are being met. Will report all deviations to supervisors for correction. Responsible for performing initial training and conducting annual competencies for phlebotomy for the medical center nursing staff that perform phlebotomy, as well as physicians upon request. Train, observe, evaluate and make the final determination of competency for nursing staff. Will assist staff in difficult draws and patients and provide guidance and direction. Research request for special testing and ensure proper collection, processing and storage in the outpatient blood draw room. Answer questions and solve problems exercising independent judgment, as they arise from the phlebotomist. Ensure all levels of supplies are adequate and place orders as needed. Make certain that all equipment is monitored and QC is performed as required. Ensures patient flow is as efficient as it can be making adjustments to assignments as need with the guidance of a lead tech. Monitors patient wait times by using established protocol and report trends and/or complications to the supervisor. Perform advanced phlebotomy services. Responsible for proper patient identification, proper sample procurement, and proper specimen labeling following guidelines from the Joint Commission and the College of American Pathologist "Patient safety Goals". Order, package and ship laboratory specimens for testing at reference laboratories. The incumbent will make decision based on their knowledge and established protocols of clinical testing for test validity. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday 10am - 6:30pm with rotating weekends and holidays Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Health Technician/PD60805A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Available 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/trial period 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 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 or 2-year trial 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 trial 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, 10/24/2025. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 announcement. In 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/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 level may have been gained (a) performing phlebotomist responsibilities, to include collecting blood samples, (b) performing technical medical laboratory support work such as obtaining and preparing laboratory specimens for examinations (chemical, microbiologic, hematologic and blood banking) and validating and reporting the results or (c) technical support work in closely related field, e.g., medical technician, biological laboratory technician work, that required application of the methods and techniques for the position being filled. Other examples of specialized experience for this grade level would include: assessing patient condition before, during, and after the procedure; receiving requests for testing and verifying for completeness and accuracy; receiving specimens in the laboratory and separating and routing them to the proper section for testing; performing add-on functions for the clinical sections of the laboratory by identifying viable samples and determining their suitability for the required testing; and performing more advanced phlebotomy procedures for more difficult or unique situations. OR Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Graduate education or an internship that meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. 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. (*Transcripts required).OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Influencing/Negotiating Technical Competence 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. Note: 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. Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion, such as regular and recurring walking, or bending, walk to observe, collect, or record data. Technician will experience moderate to high level of physical risk in interactions with disgruntled patients. The work requires moderate lifting and pushing and/or pulling a laboratory cart around the medical center that weighs greater than 15 pounds. VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio, Indiana and Michigan (VISN 10) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. 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. 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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.