Histopathology Technician (Lead)
What you'd do
The incumbent serves as the Lead Histopathology Technician (HT). Lead HTs perform duties that include significant scope, complexity, and administrative independence. The Lead provides direction for the daily operations of the histopathology unit and assumes responsibility for integrating, coordinating, and monitoring adherence to established methods, protocols, and workflow processes to maintain continuous, efficient, and high-quality operations.
Major duties
This position requires comprehensive knowledge of anatomic pathology laboratory practice. The Lead HT provides on-the-job training and cross-training to staff, offers input to the supervisor regarding employee performance and training needs, adjusts work assignments to meet changing priorities or staff absences, resolves simple informal complaints, and refers complex issues to the supervisor. Functions include, but are not limited to: Provides technical leadership and direction for the daily operations of the histopathology section, ensuring continuous workflow, adherence to protocols, and maintenance of high-quality standards. Prepares, directs, and adjusts work schedules, assigns daily tasks, monitors workload distribution, and ensures timely completion of all histology operations. Guides and instructs Histopathology Technicians on a broad range of complex and routine procedures, providing technical advice, additional training, and procedural clarification as needed. Conducts ongoing spot checks of work in progress and performs detailed reviews of completed work to ensure compliance with protocols, proper sequencing of procedures, and quality standards. Calibrates, operates, and maintains instruments and equipment used in surgical pathology, immunohistochemistry, frozen sections, special stains, and other complex histological procedures. Performs and oversees troubleshooting and corrective actions. Maintains accurate patient identification and chain-of-custody compliance throughout specimen receipt, processing, slide preparation, and archiving. Performs advanced histopathology procedures including difficult special stains, immunohistochemistry, frozen sections, bone marrow processing, cytology preparations, and other specialized techniques as required. Works varied shifts-including weekends, holidays, and off-hours-as operational needs dictate and provides coverage during absences or emergent workload surges. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. or 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual/remote position. Functional Statement #: 56229F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/14/2026. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience and Education Experience. One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) or health technician. OR, Education Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation such as biological science or chemistry; or Successful completion of two academic years of study above high school that included at least 24 semester hours in Chemistry and/or in appropriate fields of biological science and successful completion of a 12-month program of education and training in histopathology or cytotechnology. OR, Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples are listed below: Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as biological science, surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; or an associate's degree in a health care related field. Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or histopathology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces. Certification. None English Language Proficiency. Histopathology Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5.a., this part. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade. Histopathology Technician, GS-8 (Lead) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Experience includes a high level of responsibility for technical oversight and are expected to carry out assigned tasks of considerable difficulty independently. Histopathology technicians will have the responsibility of performing difficult specialized histological, histochemical, and immunohistochemical procedures, as well as developing, modifying, or adapting new staining methods or techniques, improving existing methods as necessary for routine histotechnology procedures. The technician will be responsible for troubleshooting issues with instruments and resolving problems. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Assignment. Lead Histopathology technicians at this level perform duties which consist of a significant scope, complexity and administrative independence. The Lead provides direction to the daily operations and assumes responsibility for integrating and monitoring the standard adherence to methods and protocols to maintain continuous work flow and quality within the unit. Duties include: prepare, direct, and approve work schedules and assign tasks for timely completion of duties; ensure resources are in optimal working condition and address workflow needs; calibrate, operate, and maintain instruments and equipment used in surgical pathology, immunohistochemistry, and special stains; provides guidance and instruction to Histopathology Technicians on a broad range of specific tasks and job techniques; monitors work in progress often performing spot checks to ensure protocols are being followed; reviews completed work to ensure guidelines are met regarding work sequences, procedures, and methods; provides on-the-job training to new employees; provides cross-training to staff; provides input to supervisor on performance and training needs of employees; adjusts work assignments due to absences or changes in priorities; resolves simple informal complaints of employees and patients, referring the more difficult problems to the supervisor; recommends approval and/or disapproval of leave requests. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher- level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs. Ability to use independent judgment and apply comprehensive technical histopathology knowledge to solve complex problems concerning a broad range of tests, procedures, and protocols. Ability to perform procedural technical review and provide written and practical application training and instructions to laboratory personnel in all areas of histology. Ability to manage staffing requirements, plan and organize workload and priorities, and coordinate work in order to complete duties in an accurate and timely manner. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrating an understanding of the impact of incomplete work. Comprehensive knowledge of regulatory, licensing, and accrediting agency requirements that govern laboratory operations in order to insure that work practices, documentation, and reporting are consistent with all governing standards and regulations. Skill in communicating with individuals in order to obtain the desired effect, provide technical guidance and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations. Preferred Experience: Experience with current Laboratory Information System (VISTA) Demonstrated experience performing advanced histopathology procedures, including complex special stains, immunohistochemistry, frozen sections, and bone marrow processing Competency in troubleshooting and maintaining histology instrumentation (tissue processors, automated stainers, microtomes, cryostats, IHC platforms) and conducting quality control Familiarity with laboratory safety practices, including chemical handling (xylene, formalin), PPE use, infection control, and compliance with OSHA and VA safety regulations Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination.
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