Program Support Assistant
Summary
This position is located at the VA Central Biorepository Center within the VA Boston Healthcare System in Boston, MA. The biorepository processes and stores patient samples collected for the clinical trials conducted by the VA cooperative studies program (CSP program) and the Million Veteran Program (Epidemiology Research). Patient bloods collected nationally for these projects are shipped to the VA Central Biorepository for processing and long-term storage.
Duties
Help
• **THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***
NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (3 years not-to-exceed 4 years ). Term appointments are non-status, non-permanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4-year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment.
Major duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
• Assists as with preparation of blood draw kits and shipping blood draw supplies to over 50 sites across the nation.
• Performs liaison and support duties to facilitate open communications with both internal and external customers.
• Acts as a liaison for the Project Manager and handles most communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of the organization or office pertaining to the study.
• Maintains contact with the sites, providing support and advice to site personnel.
• Provides administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository.
• Assists the Project Manager in planning and preparing materials for study specimen collection.
• Fills supply orders.
• Creates UPS air bills for the supply orders.
• Prepares blood drawing kits and shipping boxes.
• Labels blood tubes and/or kits.
• Opens boxes and separates blood tubes by study and box.
• Accessions blood samples into the biorepository database.
• Sets up and maintains blood processing and DNA extraction robots.
• Creates and maintains physical and electronic study files.
• Fills cryotanks with liquid nitrogen weekly and keeps logs of the liquid nitrogen levels in the tanks.
• Follows lab safety rules.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Full Time, 7:00am - 3:30 pm with rotating Saturdays.
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Requirements
Help
Conditions of employment
• You must be a U.S. Citizen to• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
Qualifications
To qualify for this position at the GS-5 level, you must meet one of the following requirements:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4) in federal service. Qualifying specialized experience providing administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository Lab such as planning and preparation of all materials for study specimen collection and accessioning the samples into the biorepository data base. NOTE: Your answer will be verified against information provided on your resume. If your resume does not clearly support your response by addressing your work experience in detail you will be disqualified.
OR
EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: Successfully completed 4 years of above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE TO APPLICANTS: This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)
OR
COMBINATION: Possess equivalent combinations of experience and education as previously described to fully meet the requirements of this position. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)
You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:
• Communications
• Information Technology Research and Development
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Competence
IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.
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.
Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion like some walking; standing; bending; climbing and carrying of heavy to light items such as heavy shipping boxes filled with supplies, small parts; 50 lb of dry ice or 20 lb racks from freezers; or driving an automobile, etc. The arduous nature of the job requires frequent breaks.
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/.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).
Additional information
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Expand Hide additional information
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
Help
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Apply Now
Apply Now
This position is located at the VA Central Biorepository Center within the VA Boston Healthcare System in Boston, MA. The biorepository processes and stores patient samples collected for the clinical trials conducted by the VA cooperative studies program (CSP program) and the Million Veteran Program (Epidemiology Research). Patient bloods collected nationally for these projects are shipped to the VA Central Biorepository for processing and long-term storage.
Duties
Help
• **THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***
NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (3 years not-to-exceed 4 years ). Term appointments are non-status, non-permanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4-year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment.
Major duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
• Assists as with preparation of blood draw kits and shipping blood draw supplies to over 50 sites across the nation.
• Performs liaison and support duties to facilitate open communications with both internal and external customers.
• Acts as a liaison for the Project Manager and handles most communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of the organization or office pertaining to the study.
• Maintains contact with the sites, providing support and advice to site personnel.
• Provides administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository.
• Assists the Project Manager in planning and preparing materials for study specimen collection.
• Fills supply orders.
• Creates UPS air bills for the supply orders.
• Prepares blood drawing kits and shipping boxes.
• Labels blood tubes and/or kits.
• Opens boxes and separates blood tubes by study and box.
• Accessions blood samples into the biorepository database.
• Sets up and maintains blood processing and DNA extraction robots.
• Creates and maintains physical and electronic study files.
• Fills cryotanks with liquid nitrogen weekly and keeps logs of the liquid nitrogen levels in the tanks.
• Follows lab safety rules.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Full Time, 7:00am - 3:30 pm with rotating Saturdays.
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Requirements
Help
Conditions of employment
• You must be a U.S. Citizen to• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
Qualifications
To qualify for this position at the GS-5 level, you must meet one of the following requirements:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4) in federal service. Qualifying specialized experience providing administrative and technical support work to support the activities of the Biorepository Lab such as planning and preparation of all materials for study specimen collection and accessioning the samples into the biorepository data base. NOTE: Your answer will be verified against information provided on your resume. If your resume does not clearly support your response by addressing your work experience in detail you will be disqualified.
OR
EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: Successfully completed 4 years of above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE TO APPLICANTS: This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)
OR
COMBINATION: Possess equivalent combinations of experience and education as previously described to fully meet the requirements of this position. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.)
You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:
• Communications
• Information Technology Research and Development
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Competence
IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.
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.
Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion like some walking; standing; bending; climbing and carrying of heavy to light items such as heavy shipping boxes filled with supplies, small parts; 50 lb of dry ice or 20 lb racks from freezers; or driving an automobile, etc. The arduous nature of the job requires frequent breaks.
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/.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).
Additional information
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Expand Hide additional information
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
Help
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Apply Now
Apply Now