Lead Interior Designer

Summary

This position is located in the Major Projects Service at John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital in St. Louis, MO. The Lead Interior Designer is responsible for assisting with planning, implementation and operational management of a complete Interior Design program.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Leader Duties Leading the Interior Design team by assigning work, balancing workload, setting priorities, and ensuring timely completion of projects and assignments Providing technical guidance, consultation, coaching, and problem-solving support to interior designers, supervisors, senior leaders, and project teams Monitoring team and individual work for progress, quality, compliance, and achievement of established objectives Coordinating team initiatives, resolving routine issues, building consensus, and communicating project status, problems, and needs to the supervisor Identifying training and resource needs and providing input on employee assignments, performance, and team development Maintaining current policies, procedures, technical references, and program information to support team and project activities Planning and implementing the Interior Design Program in support of facility goals, priorities, and operational needs Interior Designer Duties Developing short- and long-range Interior Design Program plans, including the five-year interior design plan and multi-year procurement priorities Planning and designing interior spaces for renovation and new construction, including floor plans, space layouts, furniture layouts, finishes, colors, materials, and related design elements Preparing design documents, specifications, presentation materials, submittals, cost estimates, budgets, and funding justifications for interior design projects Providing technical expertise and reviewing architectural, engineering, contractor, and vendor submittals for compliance with VA requirements, facility criteria, codes, safety, environmental, ADA, and Joint Commission requirements Coordinating interior design activities with architects, engineers, contractors, vendors, facility departments, leadership, and move teams throughout project planning and implementation Managing interior design-related projects, procurement packages, furniture, finishes, window treatments, cubicle curtains, wall coverings, flooring, artwork, lighting, ceilings, casework, and etc. Serving as, or working with, the Contracting Officer's Representative by reviewing materials and specifications, coordinating changes, and conducting field inspections Developing and managing facility signage and wayfinding plans in accordance with VA requirements and applicable ADA and Joint Commission standards Managing the facility furniture program and maintaining the Interior Design resource library and related technical information Analyzing facility needs, trends, and operational requirements to identify problems, develop solutions, prioritize improvements, and recommend program changes Responding to interior design and furniture-related requests and complaints and advising leadership on appropriate solutions Representing the facility at design meetings, professional functions, vendor meetings, and committees affecting the Interior Design Program Performing other related duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 07:00 a.m. to 03:30 p.m. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Telework: Ad-hod only

Qualifications

Minimum Requirement: The following are minimum requirements for appointment as a Lead Interior Designer at GS-12 grade in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must meet the following. Specialized Experience (GS-12): You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying specialized experience is experience that required the performance of work concerned with the design and alteration of interior spaces to meet functional and aesthetic needs such as: identifying, researching, and creatively solving problems pertaining to the function and quality of the interior environment; performing services relative to interior spaces, including programming, design analysis, space planning and aesthetics, using specialized knowledge of interior construction, building systems and components, building codes, equipment, materials, and furnishings; preparing drawings and documents relative to the design of interior spaces in order to enhance and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; coordinating and integrating the mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering disciplines within the interior context; managing projects, developing cost estimates, evaluating bid proposals, reviewing construction documents, participating in on-site construction visits, conducting pre- and post-occupancy evaluations, developing standards for efficient space management, etc. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.) AND SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability, or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirement for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Professional experience independently developing and coordinating interior design construction documents using computer-aided design (CAD) software (e.g., Auto Cad, Architecture, 3DS Max, Revit, AutoCAD MEP, Sketch-up, etc.), including space plans, furniture/equipment layouts, finish plans, elevations, details, schedules, and related technical documentation (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: To be credited, your resume must show details of this experience.) 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. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: Work can vary from seated at a desk in front of a computer to extensive walking throughout the facility/grounds (interior and exterior) and visitation to construction sites and several off-site facilities. Work may require some lifting (<50Ibs.), light furniture moving/rearranging, carrying heavy and bulky catalogs/artwork/samples etc. and travel/driving as needed to showrooms, furniture dealers and satellite facilities. Dexterity is required related to duties performed in drafting, sketching and writing. 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) - See "Required Documents" below for details. 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

IMPORTANT: 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 assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. 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 questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13064357. 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, 09/23/2026. After submitting the online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. IMPORTANT: If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements. 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 at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. 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 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.