U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is hiring: Lead Medical Laboratory Technicia

Lead Medical Laboratory Technician – Phlebotomy/Point of Care

Overview

Lead Medical Laboratory Technician (Lead MLT) in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service, Blood Draw Room (BDR). Lead MLTs independently perform duties of significant scope and complexity, oversee technicians and phlebotomy staff, lead three or more lab support positions, provide direction to daily operations and assume responsibility for integrating and monitoring standard laboratory protocols.

Responsibilities

• Bench-level responsibilities: Collect and process specimens, ensure accurate identification and proper preservation, evaluate specimen suitability, prepare specimens, prioritize ONCO, STAT, ASAP and routine specimen collection.
• Perform routine waived testing and quality control procedures, survey samples on point of care (POC) instruments, maintain accurate records for quality control reports, ensure compliance with accreditation agencies.
• Recognize POC instrument malfunctions, troubleshoot and perform simple repairs.
• Review, interpret and verify test results, report them in the Laboratory Information System (LIS). Report significant or critical values promptly.
• Instruct, assist and advise medical technicians, residents, hospital staff, patients and students as necessary.
• Maintain sufficient supply of phlebotomy materials, report shortages.
• Adhere to facility, local, state and federal safety requirements, conduct work according to Laboratory Safety regulations.
• Leadership and Oversight: Prepare weekly staffing schedules, adjust daily assignments, provide daily directions to staff, ensure minimum coverage levels, oversee specimen collection workflow, conduct competency assessments, direct observations and training, plan and coordinate ongoing training, oversee safety checks, provide workload and quality reports, assist Ancillary Testing Coordinator, assist with point of care testing in the blood draw room.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship required.
• 1 year of experience equivalent to GS‑06 grade level (knowledge of MLT principles, quality control, troubleshooting instrumentation, technical judgment, consult with health care team).
• American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (ASCP i ASCP or ASCP Board of Registry) OR American Medical Technologists OR American Association of Bioanalysts.
• Proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program required.
• Completion of online onboarding process and acceptable identification required.

Work Schedule

Daytime hours, Monday – Friday; no weekends/holidays.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off; 13–26 days annual leave, 13 sick leave, 11 Federal holidays.
• 12 weeks paid parental leave after 12 months employment.
• Child care subsidy up to 25% of eligible childcare costs for full‑time employees with family income below $144,000 after 60 days employment.
• Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401(k) with up to 5% VA contribution.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, long‑term care coverage.
• Telework not available; position not virtual.

Requirements

Standard background, security investigation, orientation onboarding, and training required. This position is not exempt from competitive status but is within the Excepted Service.