Health Technician (Optician)

Summary

This position is located within VA Eye Care Optical Services at the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. Will be required to cover the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center Eye Clinic when deemed necessary . As the Optician the incumbent is responsible for providing optical services and knowledge of opticianry services essential to the direction and operation. The primary reason for this position is to provide eyeglasses for our Veterans.

Duties

• Major Duties include but are not limited to: Independently provides direct patient care services related to patient education, selection, ordering, verification, troubleshooting, adjustment and repair of ophthalmic lenses and eyewear. Takes measurements of interpupillary distances, optical centers, and multifocal or progressive addition lens segment heights will be accurately obtained and documented. Adjust eyeglasses for comfortable fit and proper alignment of optical centers and segment heights for optimal visual performance and will instruct/educate patients on how to wear and care for eyeglasses. Will have the skills to repair broken or defective eyeglasses. Acts the front-line staff member for patients with concerns regarding eyewear and will triage patient concerns by manual or automated lensometry verification, troubleshooting all optical issues and verify with that eyeglass fabrication is completed as prescribed. Consistently communicates and treats Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner and handles conflict and Veteran concerns constructively and appropriately. Documents patient care activities properly and clearly in the patient's electronic record in a timely manner. Tracks eyeglass orders weekly for verification of receipt of consult and obtain tracking information as needed to assist the Veteran. Notifies Veteran's when eyeglasses are ready for pickup. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am- 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Optician)/PD13166A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2026. Individual Occupational Requirements Specialized Experience: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements applicants must also meet the specialized experience requirement. 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 -05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: working knowledge to design, measure fit frames, preparing work orders, eye glass repairs, record maintenance, bookkeeping, insurance submissions and authorization request, customer service, administrative duties such as inventory records, tracking of orders and other administrative duties as it pertains to this health tech Optician vacancy. Selective Placement Factor: Must have experience in measuring, fitting, and adjusting eyeglasses based on optical prescriptions. Experience with a variety of optical measurements (e.g., pupillary distance, vertex distance, segment heights) and accurate interpretation of optical prescriptions. Proficiency in adjusting and repairing eyeglasses, including working with both metal and plastic frames. Demonstrated customer service skills, especially in resolving patient concerns and providing education on eyewear. Quality Ranking Factor: Experience working in a healthcare or clinical setting and/or with veteran populations. Ability to use electronic health record systems and maintain accurate patient and inventory records. Skill in preparing detailed work orders for optical laboratories and collaborating effectively with lab technicians. Ability to multitask and manage time efficiently in a high-volume, fast paced environment. Knowledge of and ability to stay current with optical products, lens technologies, and frame styles. 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. 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 identification 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) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13049825. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/30/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.