Interior Designer

About the role

Interior Designer is responsible for the planning and implementation of a complete interior design program for the Engineering Service - VAMC Lexington - Kentucky. The scope of the existing areas under the care and responsibility of the incumbent is over 1.465 million gross square feet on 150 acres at two divisions - Leestown and Cooper Divisions and four Community Based Outreach Clinics (CBOCs). The Interior Designer would be a direct report to the Office of the Chief - Engineering Service.

Requirements

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 (09/24/2026). For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in Federal service. An SF-50 showing 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 one-year time-in-grade; in that case you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. These requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement and to current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Physical Requirements: The work is partially sedentary, although some physical effort may be required when moving furniture or pulling modular product for installation. The work involves regular walking, bending, climbing, and occasionally crawling in or around the facility and construction sites. Work hours can vary from the normal schedule depending on project performance or building management system operation, which may entail night, weekend, and/or extended daily work hours.

For more information on these qualification standards, please see the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Qualifications

You may qualify based on experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation. Examples include:
  • Identifying, researching, and creatively solving problems pertaining to the function and quality of the interior environment.
  • Performing services relative to interior spaces, including programming, design analysis, space planning, and aesthetics, using specialized knowledge of interior construction, building systems and components, building codes, equipment, materials, and furnishings.
  • Preparing drawings and documents relative to the design of interior spaces to enhance and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
  • Coordinating and integrating the mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering disciplines within the interior context.
  • Managing projects, developing cost estimates, evaluating bid proposals, reviewing construction documents, participating in on-site construction visits, conducting pre- and post-occupancy evaluations, developing standards for efficient space management, etc.
• Education: Successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D. in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Transcripts must be submitted with the application; education cannot be credited without documentation.
• Combination: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. A copy of your transcript is required when using education combined with specialized experience.

You will be rated on the following Competencies:

• Attention to Detail
• Creative Thinking
• Customer Service
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Decision Making
• Financial Management
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Strategic Thinking
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

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, religious, 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. 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 per week spent in such employment.

Responsibilities

• Consults, advises, plans, and designs all spaces in new and/or renovated construction areas.
• Develops and directs planning and scheduling of short- and long-range interior improvement projects for the medical center using the facility's construction and backfill plans along with other programs that determine future needs.
• Uses sound judgment, tact, and diplomacy to resolve problems and must be able to motivate, influence, justify, and defend matters and disputes with persons who may be unfamiliar with the scope of their work.
• Develops and maintains a comprehensive resource library of interior design literature.
• Prepares equipment and furniture listings for all assigned major renovation and new construction projects and also facility management required by the Medical Center.
• Analyzes and develops cost estimates to cover furnishings and construction for all required projects and future needs of the facility for replacements.
• Maintains good working relationships with commercial vendors, contractors, and VA staff working on renovation and new construction projects.
• Evaluates total program to assure compliance with Department of VA requirements, Joint Commission standards, regulations regarding provisions for handicapped persons, and Privacy Act requirements, and makes recommendations for corrections if defects are identified.
• Influences design from conception through to activation by in-depth knowledge of user requirements and availability of furnishings to satisfy those