Duties

Major duties include but not limited too:

Police and Security Administration & Operations

• Interpret complex security policies and procedures and provides guidance to leadership and other managers within the Medical Center's catchment area.
• Keep the Chief informed regarding program successes and vulnerabilities and make recommendations to address concerns, resolve program issues and/or address resource needs.
• Responsible for gathering a variety of law enforcement/security data and helping to present it to senior leadership directly or through the facility's committee structure.
• Serve as one of management's designated liaisons with federal law enforcement agencies such as the VA, Office of the Inspector General-Criminal Investigation Division (OIG-CID), F.B.I., D.E.A., A.T.F., Secret Service, State Police and local law enforcement agencies.
• Responsible for assisting in the establishment of Memorandum's of Understanding (MOUs) with law enforcement agency executives.
• Represent the Department and Facility at meetings, conferences, events and with outside agencies as assigned.
• Interpret complex regulations, laws, VA Directives and Handbooks to help develop local directives, policies and instructions designed to protect patients, visitors, employees and equipment.
• When serious or specific incident types occur, ensure appropriate notifications are made to the Chief of Police and/or local leadership or other law enforcement agency.
• Support and participate in Incident Command processes when circumstances arise requiring activation of an Incident Management Team.
• In conjunction with the Chief, ensure Police Service's emergency preparedness plan is current and supports the Medical Center level plan.
• As one of the service's leaders, ensure access and operation of the National Crime Information Center (and state terminals) (NCIC) is conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and VA policies.
• Share in the responsibility for the justification, specifications, and effective utilization of all equipment, hardware, and supply matters regarding the facility level law enforcement and security program.
• Plan, coordinate and deliver any necessary law enforcement or security training for personnel outside the police service.

Personnel/Training

• Evaluate the performance of subordinates by establishing standards.
• Plan, assign and explain work requirements for new or changed programs, functions, goals, processes, and needs.
• Develop solutions to continuing problems in the quality of work and operating effectiveness and take or recommend necessary corrective actions.
• Resolve technical work problems not covered by precedents or established policies.
• Hear and resolve employee complaints.
• Review minor disciplinary cases involving Police Service employees and recommend appropriate actions to Chief.
• Approve and coordinate training requests.
• Review resumes of prospective candidates and participate in interviews.
• Adjust schedules and assignments to meet emergency conditions or situations.

Physical Security

• Provide input into policy development.
• Implement corrective procedures to alleviate identified physical security problems taking into consideration all internal, as well as external factors.
• Make recommendations concerning law enforcement and physical security to the Chief.
• Take efforts to support the development of physical security plans and objectives and implement Medical Center policies that address the facility's law enforcement and security program.
• Actively participate in major and minor construction projects (design, review, construction, activation, etc.) to ensure VA's physical security requirements are properly met and support VA's safety and security goals.
• Help to conduct physical security surveys and vulnerability assessments.
• Analyze findings to aid in determining weaknesses and vulnerabilities and recommend necessary courses of action to mitigate risk.
• Coordinate with applicable leaders to resolve issues.

Equipment/Weapons/Weapon Control

• Collaborate with the Chief to manage procurement and accountability of equipment used by and assigned to police service.
• Help to ensure that critical elements of the program are met, i.e. weapons training certification, inventory control of weapons and ammunition and supporting supplies.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Security Specialist (Deputy Chief of Police)/PD99955S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
Financial 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 background/security investigation
• 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 01/21/2022.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Experience that provided knowledge of a body of basic laws and regulations,
• Supervising a police officer shift,
• Apprehending criminals,
• Law enforcement operations, practices, and techniques
• Involved responsibility for maintaining order and protecting life and property.
• Creditable specialized experience may have been gained in work on a police force; through service as a military police officer; in work providing visitor protection and law enforcement in parks, forests, or other natural resource or recreational environments; in performing criminal investigative duties; or in other work that provided the required knowledge and skills.
  • (Experience as a security guard or corrections officer is generally not qualifying)

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Education and Training
• Managing Human Resources
• Physical Security
• Security

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 position is required to exert considerable and strenuous physical effort on a regular basis while performing the functions of the position. These functions are normally performed while the position conducts security surveys and inspections, which require crawling in unusually confined building areas. May be called upon to defend themselves and members of staff, patients or the public against physical attack and may be required to exercise deadly force if necessary. Requirements of the position include maintaining firearms qualifications, climbing flights of stairs, carrying heavy equipment/patients during emergencies, running, bending, stooping, physical restraint of aggressive persons, being subjected to assaults by persons evading arrest. Inspections and audits of security systems, constructions sites, and full searches require the performance of duties in a variety of inclement weather conditions walking, crawling in wooded or over-grown field conditions in all elements of seasonal weather.

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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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. 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.

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.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

As required by Executive Order 14043 , Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exception from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .