Maintenance Mechanic

Veterans Health Administration • Lexington, KY

21h • Onsite

About The Position

The Maintenance Mechanic is a journeyman position at the two-division Veterans Administration Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. The role applies basic skills and technical practices across maintenance trades, including carpentry, facility maintenance, painting, masonry, and wallpaper or vinyl hanging. The mechanic selects materials and tools, maintains supply inventory, determines appropriate techniques and tools, and coordinates with other services and individuals to avoid interrupting patient access to care.

Carpentry work includes alterations; constructing partitions with wood or metal studs; installing drywall, doors, flooring, roofing, gutters, and ceiling tile; repairing screens and windows; and building concrete forms. Some work uses lead-lined drywall and requires familiarity with procedures for containing splatter radiation. The mechanic uses and helps maintain power tools, including radial saws, band saws, electric hand saws, joiners, and planers.

The position also involves preparing and repairing plaster on various surfaces; mixing cement mortar and aligning walls; masonry construction and maintenance using materials such as concrete, brick, and tile; preparing surfaces and hanging residential or commercial wallpaper; and painting the interiors and exteriors of approximately 46 buildings ranging from one to eight stories. Painting includes applying a range of coatings and stains. The mechanic adapts methods and materials to site conditions and weather, performs general facility maintenance, and assists the Electrician, HVAC, and Plumbing shops with non-technical tasks. Other duties may be assigned.

The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Work takes place indoors and outdoors in varied weather and ventilated or unventilated areas. It involves prolonged standing, bending, sitting, squatting, and kneeling, working in cramped spaces, crawling into tight spaces, and climbing to heights of up to 100 feet to perform duties. Physical effort includes hand sawing, nailing, and lifting large articles or assemblies; cuts and bruises are possible.

Requirements

• Provide resume descriptions demonstrating training or experience of sufficient scope and quality to perform the work; no specific length of training or experience is required.
• Demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the position's duties.
• Meet the OPM Federal Wage System qualification standards and the position's screen-out element.
• U.S. citizenship is required, except non-citizens may be appointed when qualified citizens cannot be recruited in accordance with VA policy.
• Be suitable for Federal employment as determined by a background investigation.
• Submit to urinalysis for illegal drug screening before appointment if tentatively selected for a testing-designated position; refusal results in denial of VA employment.
• Register for Selective Service if a male born after December 31, 1959.
• Complete required onboarding and provide acceptable identification documents.
• Serve a one-year probationary period.
• Meet the annual seasonal influenza vaccination requirement or obtain a medical or religious exemption; masking is required when an exemption is granted.

Responsibilities

• Select materials and tools, maintain an inventory of supplies, determine the techniques and tools required, and coordinate work to avoid interrupting patient access to care.
• Perform carpentry alterations and construct partitions using wood and metal studs; fur out walls; hang drywall and doors; repair or construct screens, screen doors, and storm windows and doors; and build concrete forms.
• Install and repair floor coverings, roofing, gutters, and ceiling tile and track.
• Use and help maintain power tools, including radial saws, band saws, electric hand saws, joiners, and planers.
• Prepare surfaces and repair plaster using scratch and finish coats; mix appropriate cement mortar and ensure walls are aligned to plans and existing features.
• Construct and maintain horizontal and vertical structures using masonry products and techniques, including concrete, concrete blocks, brick, clay tile, terrazzo, and terra cotta.
• Prepare wall surfaces and hang residential- and commercial-grade wallpaper or vinyl coverings.
• Paint the interiors and exteriors of approximately 46 buildings, applying coatings and stains appropriate to the work.
• Adapt joint dimensions, mortar selection and mixing, and trade techniques to site conditions and weather changes.
• Perform general facility maintenance and assist the Electrician, HVAC, and Plumbing shops with non-technical tasks.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package available to the employee and family; specific benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.
• VA may grant credit for job-related non-federal experience or active-duty uniformed military service when determining annual leave accrual, if requested and approved before appointment; approval is not guaranteed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed