Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)

About the role

The Lead Medical Supply Technician (MST) works in support of the Sterile Processing Service (SPS) management team. The MST distributes, prioritizes and monitors all workloads distributed to employees and ensures that work completed is in accordance with established workflow and/or job specializations.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT until July 15, 2026. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred weekly or as vacancies become available.

Responsibilities

• Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees.
• Ensures timely accomplishment of assigned tasks.
• Revises work schedule to meet changes in the workload.
• Breaks out tasks as necessary to provide new employees with experience and training.
• Explains work requirements, methods and procedures on difficult or different operations and answers technical questions.
• Makes adjustments in accordance with established priorities.
• Provides on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices.
• Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work, checking on work in progress and reviewing completed work to see that the supervisor's instructions on priorities, methods, deadlines and quality assurance have been met.
• Obtains assistance from the supervisory staff on problems that may arise;
• Amends or rejects work not meeting established standards.
• Refers questions or matters not covered by standards and problems in meeting performance standards to the supervisory staff.
• Checks the cleaning, reprocessing and distribution of technical medical equipment, materiel and instrumentation to assess the quality and quantity of work produced by each employee.
• Ensures that items are safe to use, delivered on time at the proper place, and in the correct condition to be properly used for VA patient care.
• Maintains certification by completing approved, annual Continuing Education Units (CEU) and annual in-service hours.
• Maintains current knowledge of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which document the processes and procedures for cleaning, disinfection, sterilization and preparation of RME appropriate to this position.

Requirements

The Lead Medical Supply Technician (MST) works with the Chief and Assistant Chief for SPS, in the assignment of functions to team members to meet routine and unusual deadlines and priorities. The MST leads a unit or team of employees performing work at the GS-6 levels or below and provides guidance and technician direction for accomplishing the work of the unit or team.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience and/or Education Experience. Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; or Education. One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; or Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Certification. None. Grandfathering Provision. All MSTs that are employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-622 occupational series as MSTs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation. Please note, that this position is above the full performance level.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U. S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U. S. programs. English Language Proficiency. MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy.

GRADE REQUIREMENTS Creditable Experience Knowledge of Current MST Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with MST responsibilities. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as a MST. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty).

In addition to the basic requirements, the following criteria must be met by the candidate.

GS-07 Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-07 you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6). Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Receiving contaminated critical and semi-critical RME in the decontamination area; disassembling the RME and determining the correct cleaning method, such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners, mechanical washers, cart washers and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents, as determined by manufacturer instructions; inspecting, assembling and determining the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam, Sterrad, Steris, ETO, and high level disinfecting scope re-processors; performing and documenting daily operational checks and records for all sterilization equipment.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to instruct staff on the correct procedures and protocols for completing assignments.
• Skill in communicating with staff to ensure compliance with written directives, rules and regulations.
• Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers.
• Knowledge of sterility principles in order to instruct staff on decontamination procedures.
• Ability to lead individuals, manage priorities, and schedule work assignments.