Firefighter (Basic Life Support)

Description:

This position is in the Fire Service division and reports to the Assistant Fire chief or Fire Chief under the Assistant Director line. The purpose of the position is to provide all hazards twenty-four (24) hour fire and emergency services response to the Fort Harrison Montana VA Campus including 41 residential low-income veteran housing units and surrounding mutual aid jurisdictions.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/05/2025.
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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) : The Fire Protection and Prevention Series 0081 has a minimum qualification entry requirement:

• Specialized Experience : Experience that demonstrated the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Such duties may include:
  • Controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military, industrial, volunteer or governmental fire department or brigade;
  • Rescue operations;
  • Detection, reduction or elimination of potential fire hazards;
  • Operation of fire communications equipment;
  • Controlling hazardous materials incidents;
  • Developing, implementing or providing training in fire protection and prevention. AND,

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-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: ability to operate fire apparatus and other vehicles; knowledge of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, VA regulations and directives, and fire department and occupational safety and health guidelines; ability to use and maintain motorized fire apparatus, fire pumps, self contained breathing apparatus, portable extinguishers and other fire prevention and suppression equipment; knowledge of fire and life safety inspection procedures and techniques, including ability to detect hazards and to determine the action needed to eliminate the hazard; ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, manage programs and inventory control; ability to perform and maintain calm in emergency and stressful situations; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, employees, patients and the public. AND,

• Selective Factors : Selective factors are a special qualification without which a candidate could not perform the duties of a position in a satisfactory manner. In addition to the meeting the above requirements, you must also meet the following Selective Factors for this position below:
  • Firefighter I and II (IFSAC or Pro Board)
  • Hazardous Materials Awareness (IFSAC or Pro Board)
  • Hazardous Materials Operations (IFSAC or Pro Board)
  • Driver/Operator Pumper (IFSAC or Pro Board)
  • Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Basic (National Registry or State of Montana)
  • Fire Inspector I/II within 24 months of employment with the VA (IFSAC or Pro Board)

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

• Chemistry
• Compliance Inspection
• Decision Making
• Fire Management
• First Response

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, on a regular and recurring basis, considerable and strenuous physical exertion such as frequent climbing of multiple flights of stairs, running, lifting heavy objects over 50 pounds, crouching or crawling in restrictive areas during fire and rescue activities. Fire personal protective equipment (PPE) is excess of 65 additional pounds and must be worn, and equipment carried; wearing of this PPE significantly amplifies the physical strain experienced by the employee during physical exertion or during periods of hot or cold 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/ .