WOC - Research Biological Laboratory Technician

This position serves as Without Compensation Research Health Technician within the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value-driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden.
Please note, there is no pay associated with this position. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/04/2025.

• Experience: You must possess general experience in (1) any type of work that includes performing and assisting with laboratory experiments including rDNA cell culture and staining of tissue sections, (2) maintaining complete and accurate data collection; or (3) obtaining and organizing data (test results) as necessary for study. OR,
• Education: You must possess a graduate degree from an accredited college or university in a Biological Sciences field. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of experience and education.

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

• Chemistry
• Critical Thinking
• Research
• Specimen Collection

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 standing, walking, and/or bending to observe, collect, or record research data. Some of the work will need to be performed under hoods. Several tasks involve repetitive motion. The work requires special agility and/or dexterity including exceptional hand/eye coordination.A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

PLEASE NOTE : Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: . All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.