Fire Chief

Summary

Incumbent works under the general supervision of the Associate Director at the Chillicothe VA Medical Center and is responsible for the overall management and supervision of the fire protection – rescue – hazardous materials response – inspection – emergency medical Advanced and Basic Life Support (A/BLS) – Pre-Hospital Care – and fire prevention services and programs for the Chillicothe VAMC and associated CBOCs.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentive may be authorized for highly qualified candidates.

To qualify for this position – applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement – 01/22/2026. 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‑11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS‑09. 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. 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‑09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include – but are not limited to: (1) inspecting – controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military – industrial – volunteer – or governmental fire department or brigade;

(2) rescue operations; (3) detection – reduction – or elimination of potential fire hazards; (4) operation of fire communications equipment; (5) controlling hazardous materials incidents and/or (6) developing – implementing – or providing training in fire protection and prevention. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
Administration and Management, Planning and Evaluating, Technical Competence, Financial Management, Leadership, Managing Human Resources.
Certification: VA fire department staffing at VA medical facilities that provide off-campus ambulance transport by the fire department – must include personnel trained to the level of Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMT‑B) or Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic (EMT‑P). You must have attended and successfully completed a State of Ohio or Nationally registered certification class for EMT‑B or EMT‑P and must maintain such certification to meet requirements of this position at this level.

A copy of certification must be submitted with application package. Certification:
To be eligible for employment as a VA Fire Chief – each applicant must have certification as Fire Officer IV in accordance with NFPA 1021 – certification as Fire Inspector II in accordance with NFPA 1031 and certification as Hazardous Materials Incident Commander in accordance with NFPA 472. A copy of certification must be submitted with application package. Proof of Certification includes:
Nationally (International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or National Professional Qualifications Board (Pro Board)) Fire Fighter I & II in accordance with NFPA 1001 – Driver Operator Pumper in accordance with NFPA 1002 – Fire Officer I - II - III & IV in accordance with NFPA 1021 – Fire Inspector II in accordance with NFPA 1031 and Hazardous Materials Operator and Hazardous Materials Incident Commander in accordance with NFPA 472 and NIMS ICS‑100, 200, 300, 400, 700 and 800.

Preferred Experience:

Experience managing fire protection and prevention programs – overseeing disciplinary…