As technology continues to advance, the need for professionals who are innovative and critical thinkers is at an all-time high. Healthcare engineers at VA work to design, construct, improve, and operate over 1,300 health care facilities—including 171 VA medical centers and 1,126 outpatient-only sites of care of varying complexity—around the country.
Right now, there is an urgent need at numerous facilities for this valuable and rewarding specialty, so if you have a background in engineering and a passion to serve Veterans with your skills, look no further than a job at VA.
Engineers at a glance
At VA, healthcare engineers are involved with project planning, design, and documentation, and provide oversight and project management for construction and maintenance efforts.
You’ll be the one who determines the requirements for engineering and development projects at your facility. Whether it’s as small as changing the function of an existing space or as large as building a whole new wing, we’ll look to you to manage the work.
Using your training and judgment, you’ll supervise every facet of the project: scheduling, layout, inspections, and even the equipment used in the work. You’ll also work with contractors to make sure that the design specifications and scope of work meet both the requirements of your facility and the conditions that VA and the government require for contracts and construction.
Throughout the process, you’ll report on the work to the leaders at your facility and assist the contracting team in confirming that all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed when it comes time to close out the project.
Additionally, you may find yourself overseeing facility operations and maintenance. Ensuring systems are operating safely and meeting end-user needs, ensuring maintenance schedules are met, and working to ensure the facility systems meet compliance requirements.
If you’re looking for more challenging work or interested in leading your own team, VA has opportunities for that as well. Supervisory healthcare engineers manage engineering groups, oversee budgeting, provide expert advice on complex projects, and oversee facility maintenance and operations ensuring accreditation standards are met.
Unique capabilities
Healthcare engineers are one of several types of engineers we employ at VA. In fact, many applicants are often confused when they find out we need engineers, thinking that the role is geared towards more specialized services in the biomedical engineering field.
While biomedical engineers mix engineering concepts with biological sciences like chemistry, anatomy, and physiology to manage the equipment in our medical centers around the country, healthcare engineers apply their talents to infrastructure issues, managing everything from boiler plants to critical utility systems within facilities.
Despite their differing areas of expertise, our healthcare engineers frequently collaborate with biomedical engineers to integrate technology and plan site layouts, ensuring that our medical centers and clinics have the right infrastructure and equipment to best meet the needs of the Veterans we serve.
A path to service
For Veterans and transitioning military personnel interested in becoming engineers, VA can offer support in the form of the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship.
This scholarship was created as an extension to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and gives Veterans or Fry Scholars the opportunity to use an additional 9 months (or $30,000) of benefits beyond their original entitlement to complete an undergraduate or dual-degree STEM program, certain clinical training programs in the health care field, or to earn a teaching certification if they have a post-secondary degree in a STEM field.
Beyond this opportunity, VA provides its employees access to numerous education support and loan reimbursement opportunities as additional incentive to use your skills in the service of Veterans.
Work at VA
Your talents in engineering can play a valuable role in our mission to provide the best care to Veterans. Joining our team as a healthcare engineer will start you on the path to a rewarding and worthwhile career.
- LEARN more about engineering and support services work at VA.
- READ about the education support we provide.
- EXPLORE more opportunities at VA Careers.
- APPLY for positions:
- Healthcare engineers, GS 7-14
- Supervisory healthcare engineers, GS 13 and GS 14
