Federal
Safety and Occupational Health Manager (Safety Administrator)
Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System · Department of Justice
About This Position
Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.
Qualifications
To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements: Education: GS-11: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. Graduate Education: Major study - safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. Graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. GS-12: There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this grade level. OR Experience: GS-11 and GS-12: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled. Some examples of qualifying experience are: GS-11: Experience advising supervisors and safety representatives of appropriate safety and occupational health measures to control or eliminate hazardous operating processes or environmental conditions. Experience preparing and revising safety instructions and guides that are relevant to current or planned contractor and base employees. Experience investigating mishaps, obtaining statements from witnesses, and photographing mishap scene; records circumstances of mishap and extent of injuries, estimates cost of property damage, and prepares a final report of findings with recommendations to correct the unsafe acts or conditions that caused the personnel injury or property damage. Experience training workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects. GS-12: Experience recommending to management the application of specific techniques, methods, and procedures to eliminate or control unsafe acts or conditions identified in surveys or through a mishap information system. Experience planning, organizing, coordinating, directing, evaluating and financially managing a comprehensive safety and occupational health program. The goal of this program is to eliminate or control the risk of injury to personnel assigned to clerical, administrative, maintenance, warehousing, and industrial occupations. Experience developing and preparing local safety and occupational health directives and regulations through adaptation of higher command instructions and policies formulated by other Federal Government agencies. Experience training workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects. OR Combination of Education and Experience: GS-11 Only: Have a combination of education and experience. This experience must have equipped you with the qualifications required to perform the major duties of this position as described above. If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities. **Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**
Major Duties
Manages a program requiring a dynamic administrative approach to continual changes in regulations and executive orders and to newly mandated ones. In addition to occupational safety and fire protection, develops and implements programs for hazardous waste and emergency response operations, recycling, pollution prevention, ozone reduction, storm water management, lead and asbestos abatement, storage tank management, air pollution emissions and toxic chemical inventories. Develops safety and environmental programs designed to comply with specific regulatory requirements such as confined space entry, control of hazardous energy, machine guarding, fall protection, hazardous waste, chemical spill response, fire emergency response/evacuation, workers' compensation and hazard communication. Serves as the principal technical advisor and subject matter expert to management at the facility for the development, implementation and enforcement of safety, fire prevention and suppression, occupational health/safety and environmental programs, and workers' compensation programs. Conducts the on-going specialized training for both staff and inmates as mandated by the Bureau of Prisons and other federal and private agencies such as OSHA, EPA, FDA, USDA, DOL, NFPA, etc. Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed one regular and recurring basis.
Conditions of Employment
Career Transition Programs (CTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1. Meet CTAP eligibility criteria; 2. Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and 3. Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility. NOTE: Applicants claiming CTAP eligibility must complete all assessment questions to be rated under the established ranking criteria.
Education
See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable. ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here. Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.
How You Will Be Evaluated
If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If your selections are not supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration. There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application: Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile; Your responses to the eligibility questions; Your responses to the online assessment; Your supporting documentation, if required. Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement. If you applied to more than one grade level, BE ADVISED that you may be selected at ANY grade level for which you applied and are found qualified (i.e., if the job is announced at the 9/11 grade levels and you apply for the GS/GL-9 and the GS-11,and you are found qualified at BOTH grade levels, you may be selected at either grade level). What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position? The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required: GS-11 and GS-12: Ability to communicate orally. Ability to communicate in writing. Ability to manage resources. Ability to interpret and apply policy within the occupational safety and environmental protection, workers compensation and fire protection areas. Ability to supervise and develop the potential of subordinates. You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Additional Information
The representative rate for this position is $110,066 per annum ($52.74 per hour). Special Conditions of Employment Section: Initial appointment to a supervisory/managerial position requires a one-year probationary period. The incumbent is subject to geographic relocation to meet the needs of the agency. Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks. All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm. The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score of 68 must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees. Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques," three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required. The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence. Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate. Although competitive and non-competitive applications are being accepted, the selecting official may elect to have only one group reviewed. 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 your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Exceptions may apply. See 5 CFR part 11.
How to Apply
You must apply through the online application system at www.USAJOBS.gov. Follow the prompts to register, answer a few questions and submit all required documents. Limit your resume to 2 pages. If the only resume(s) received is/are longer than two pages, your application is ineligible for further consideration. Submission of a resume alone is not a complete application. This position may require the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described under the Required Documents section. Please carefully review the complete job announcement and the "How to Apply" instructions. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials will result in your application not being considered for employment. 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. USAJOBS Help Center - How to add a resume to your profile Required supporting documentation must be electronically uploaded or transferred from USAJOBS (uploaded). All required supporting documentation MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. You MUST include the vacancy announcement number on your supporting documentation. Supporting documentation for announcements with an application limitation MUST be uploaded the same day you apply, as these positions may close earlier than stated in the announcement. Paper applications: If applying online is impossible, please contact the Consolidated Staffing Unit at the telephone number listed below, prior to the closing date of the announcement for the alternate application procedure. If applicable see Notice for Preference Eligible Veterans Applicants. Contact for Assistance in Applying On-Line: DOJ, Federal Bureau of Prisons Consolidated Staffing Unit 346 Marine Forces Drive Grand Prairie, TX 75051 E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: 972-352-4200
Required Documents
Failure to provide legible required documents and/or follow the prescribed format often results in removal from consideration. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD-214, or Transcripts. Resume: Resume (includes name and contact information) limited to 2 pages showing relevant experience (cover letter optional). Experience that would not normally be part of the Federal employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence of qualifying experience (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, Human Resource Manager, SF-52, etc.). To receive credit for experience contained in an application, the experience must be documented: Reflecting start date and end date in month/year format (MM/YYYY) AND Include the number of hours worked per week. SF-50: Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade. Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment. Current federal employees NOT employed by the BOP and former federal employees MUST submit a copy of their latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation. CTAP, Click Here, if applicable. College transcript: includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree, and Date Awarded (if applicable). NOTE: If you are selected, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day. For more help, visit USAJOBS Help Center - What should I include in my resume? We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the salary for the Safety and Occupational Health Manager (Safety Administrator) position at Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System?
The salary range for this position is $83,482 - $130,080/yr. This is a GL-11/12 position on the General Schedule pay scale. Actual pay may vary based on locality adjustments.
Where is the Safety and Occupational Health Manager (Safety Administrator) job located?
This position is located in Chicago, Illinois. This is an on-site position.
What qualifications do I need?
To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements: Education: GS-11: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. Graduate Education: Major study - safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupation...
How do I apply for this position?
Apply through USAJobs.gov by clicking the 'Apply on USAJobs' button. You'll need a USAJobs account, a federal-style resume, and supporting documents. The deadline is Mar 3, 2026.
Is a security clearance required?
No security clearance is required for this position.
What does GL-11/12 mean?
GL-11/12 refers to the General Schedule grade level. Higher grades require more experience and offer higher pay. Visit our GS Pay Scale page for full salary tables by grade and locality.
What benefits do federal employees receive?
Federal employees receive comprehensive benefits including health insurance (FEHB), retirement through FERS, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with government matching, paid annual and sick leave, paid parental leave, life insurance, and student loan repayment programs.