Safety and Occupational Health Manager

Summary

About the Position: MRDC is now part of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Research & Development (R&D). We are the medical materiel developer, with responsibility for medical research, development and acquisition. Our expertise in these critical areas helps establish and maintain the capabilities the military needs to remain ready and lethal on the battlefield. Please visit our website https://mrdc.health.mil/ This is a Direct Hire Solicitation

Duties

• Serve as Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Manager planning, directing, and evaluating the SOH program per federal, state, local policy.
• Serve as the designated Biosafety Manager.
• Provide authoritative technical oversight of all activities involving biological materials and infectious agents and toxins.
• Serve as the deputy to the Director Risk Management Office exercising delegated authority to direct the office’s operations, personnel, and resources in the Director’s absence.
• Perform safety and occupational health inspections and staff assistance visits of biomedical laboratories and support programs for compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.
• Manage the safety programs specific to chemical agents, biological agents, and infectious agents and toxins providing expert guidance and technical oversight.
• Manage mishap reporting, investigation, and lessons-learned; ensures timely, accurate reporting in safety systems and conducts risk assessments and mitigation plans as required.
• Perform incident investigations and root cause analyses, implementing corrective and preventive actions to improve safety performance and prevent recurrence in regulated environments.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens DHA Research & Development (R&D) is participating in an alternative personnel system known as the Personnel Demonstration Project (PDP). The DJ-04 payband is equivalent to the GS-13 step 1 to GS-14 step 10 level. In keeping with the Demonstration pay fixing policies, employees earning a salary that falls within this payband equivalent, may not receive an immediate pay increase (promotion) if appointed to this position. Future pay increases within the payband will be accomplished through the pay for performance management system. This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service. In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: 1. Experience identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring safety, occupation health, and environmental compliance risks in biomedical research and development laboratories. 2. Experience designing, implementing, and managing comprehensive Safety and Occupational Health programs for biomedical research and development laboratories 3. Experience conducting compliance inspections in biomedical research and development facilities 4. Experience communicating complex risk and safety concepts to senior leaders, technical staff, and external stakeholders, both orally and in writing. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12/DJ-03).

Education

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/08/2026to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13049704). Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. As a reminder, your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. For additional information, refer to the 'Required Documents' section. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. Your resume selected in USAJOBS will be included, but you must re-select other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application may be incomplete. It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan. Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://www.usajobs.gov/applicant/profile/dashboard/), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.