Job Summary

This Environmental Protection Specialist (GEMS Coordinator) is assigned to the Occupational Safety and Health section within the Edward Hines Jr VA Medical System, Hines, IL. This position is responsible for planning and administering environmental programs, for GEMS program planning and implementation to assure compliance with environmental laws and regulations, and completes permits and leads facility self-assessments, inspections, and other environmental investigations.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/09/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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: GS-11 Grade Requirements: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped them with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, this specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: planning, implementing, and evaluating environmental protection programs; administering a green environmental management program; leading environmental facility inspections to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations; advising management on environmental program status; preparing reports; and training others on specific environmental topics. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Applicants must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M, if related. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. 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/.