Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens. This is a Direct Hire Public Notice. Category Rating, Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to this Public Notice.

As a Biologist or Physical Scientist GS 0401/1301 13/14, your typical work assignments may include the following:

• Responsible for promoting the quality, objectivity, relevance, and integrity of the information collected, analyzed, and disseminated by the Federal Government.
• Serves as a Scientific Analyst and Scientific Expert, working collaboratively in support of OIRA economists, statisticians, and policy analysts by evaluating the scientific analyses underlying environmental health and safety, chemical fate and transport, or other analyses submitted to OIRA by Federal agencies for review under Executive Orders 12866 and 14192, the Information Quality Act, and other administration policies. Responsibilities for this role also include the coordination and review of actions submitted to OIRA under Executive Order 14215, Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies, which concerns the review of actions submitted by all regulatory agencies.
• Uses quantitative and qualitative skills to evaluate chemical, biological, statistical, and related scientific models, including underlying assumptions about the environmental fate, transport, hazards, intake, uptake, and associated human and environmental health effects underlying proposed public health, safety, and environmental policies.
• Coordinates inter-agency review of health and environmental risk assessments, and related documents (e.g., human or environmental exposure assessments), as well as play a lead role in inter-agency groups established (or chartered) to foster common understanding on issues related to scientific issues underlying such health and safety assessments and guidance.
• Implements existing guidance and contribute to new guidance designed to strengthen the objectivity, accuracy, integrity, and transparency of scientific analyses underlying Federal policies.
• Develops and gives briefings for OMB management and policy officials and Executive Office of the President officials regarding the scientific merits and implications of agency analyses.
• Serves as a professional scientist, and as expert advisor on matters of science policy and information quality, as requested by colleagues and officials from the Executive Office of the President and across federal agencies.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. citizen or national
• Selective Service registration if a male born after December 31, 1959
• Subject to pre-employment and random drug tests
• Direct Deposit is required
• RELOCATION EXPENSES WILL NOT BE PAID
• Suitability for Federal employment
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
• Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
• Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level).

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: All applicants must meet the qualification requirements outlined below to be considered minimally qualified for this position. The qualification requirements are in accordance with the OPM Qualification Standards.

ALL QUALIFICATIONS MUST BE MET BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must meet one of the following criteria listed below in order to meet the basic requirement for Biologist or Physical Scientist, 0401/1301. UNOFFICIAL TRANCRIPTS REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION.

Basic Requirements for Physical Scientist - General Physical Science Series, 1301:
A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: Education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Basic Requirements for Biologist - General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series, 0401:
A. Degree: Biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-And-

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
Applicants must have a minimum of one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility comparable to the next lower grade or comparable pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector.

You may qualify at the GS-13 level, if you meet the following minimum qualification requirement:One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector that demonstrates: 1) Using qualitative and quantitative analytic skills to identify and resolve complex problems in the regulatory policy space, such as environmental, energy or ecological outcomes;2) Developing practical alternatives to problems identified in the regulatory policy space; AND 3) Drafting or advising staff on regulatory policy, legislative or budget issues.

You may qualify at the GS-14 level, if you meet the following minimum qualification requirement:One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector that demonstrates:1) Using qualitative and quantitative analytic skills to identify and resolve complex problems in the regulatory policy space, such as environmental, energy or ecological outcomes;2) Developing practical alternatives to problems identified in the regulatory policy space; 3) Drafting or advising senior officials on regulatory policy, legislative or budget issues; AND 4) Collaborating in interagency or interdepartmental review of regulatory policy, such as environmental science, ecological, or public health issues.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine if you meet the qualifications listed on this announcement.

Your resume must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from receiving further consideration.

If you are determined qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. You may be requested to provide a writing sample to the hiring manager and/or may be required to do a scenario analysis.

Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) Eligible: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not I/CTAP eligible. View information about I/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under I/CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

1. Your resume showing your name, work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment and duties performed. Your resume must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from receiving further consideration. Note: If you upload more than one resume, the last resume received will be the one utilized for consideration. Please limit your resume to 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, curriculum vitae, or any other written form you choose, then you must ensure it contains all of the required information, and you organize it so we can associate the following information for each experience/position:

• Job title
• Name of employer
• Beginning and ending dates of employment (month/day/year format)
• Hours worked per week. We will assume full-time unless otherwise stated. We will prorate part-time employment in crediting experience.
• Detailed description of job duties for each job held, accomplishments, related skills, and responsibilities to include any supervisory/managerial responsibilities and number of staff supervised (if applicable)

2. TRANSCRIPTS: Positions which are scientific or technical in nature often have very specific educational requirements. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities, see the Foreign Education section below for additional requirements. Pay careful attention to the Qualifications and Education sections to identify vacancies where a transcript is required. Even if you hold a similar position or are a current employee, you are not exempt from transcript requirements.

3. Other supporting documents to be submitted with application:

DD214: Veterans' Preference Documentation, if applicable, a DD-214 Member 4 copy, which shows type of discharge. If still active, provide an official Statement of Service. Any other documentation such as VA letter documenting disability, SF-15, and any other required supporting documentation based your veterans' preference claim.

Electronic Transcript Caution: If you have obtained your transcripts electronically, the file might contain security measures that could prevent our application system from reading the file. Therefore, you should consider asking the institution to provide the file in a non-secured electronic format. Alternatively, you could scan or take a photo of the printed copy of the transcript. If your uploaded transcript cannot be read by our system, you may receive consideration and credit for the information we can access.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

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