Chemist Job in Fort Sam Houston, TX

Vacancy No. M1MC256231218319HW Department U.S. Army Medical Command
Salary $75,025.00 to $97,528.00 Grade 11 to 11
Perm/Temp Temporary FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 2/12/2025 Close Date 2/21/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Fort Sam Houston, TX


Summary

This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Positions of DoD Workforce to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.

About the Position: Position is located at the Regional Health Command - West, Public Health - West, Laboratory Division providing chemical and radiochemical analyses and tests for the Food Analysis & Diagnostic Lab (FADL) Veterinary Chemical Section for Fort Sam Houston, TX.

Duties

  • Conduct chemical and radiochemical analyses and tests on a broad range of food, water, biological, and environmental samples.
  • Analyzes samples and measures: physical properties; wet chemical tests; instrumental analyses; and interpretation of considerable data.
  • Apply chemical and radiochemical principles; theories; practices and methodology; federal and state regulations and guidelines pertaining to biological, and environmental testing associated with food and water.
  • Operate, calibrate, and maintain gas-flow proportional counters, liquid scintillation counters, inductively coupled mass spectrometers, and multichannel analyzers.
  • Execute numerous calculations to include determinations on the specific quantity of material present in foods, feeds, etc. to perform a variety of chemical analysis.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
  • This position requires the employee to use personal protective equipment provided by the employer.
  • This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 5% of the time.
  • This position has a mandatory seasonal influenza vaccination requirement and is subject to annual vaccination.
  • This position requires the completion of a pre-employment Physical Examination and an annual examination thereafter.
  • Employees assigned to a medical treatment facility are required to be screened for applicable immunizations or pre-existing immunity based on occupational risk, regardless of job series.
  • This position is subject to regular and recurring exposure to irritant chemicals and possible exposure to radioactive materials.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Chemist:

A. Degree: Bachelor's or higher level degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering which includes 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Course work equivalent to a major in the physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes experience performing chemical and radiochemical analyses and tests on a broad range of food, water, biological and environmental samples, analyzes samples and measures: physical properties; wet chemical tests; instrumental analyses; and interpretation of considerable data. Experience analyzing data drawn from laboratory test and compiling reports of results, recommending solutions and drawing conclusion. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09).

OR

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Chemistry, Physical Sciences, or Life sciences.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Education

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

Additional information

  • Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
  • You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
  • Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
  • Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
  • Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
  • If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
  • This is a Career Program (CP) 16 - Engineers and Scientists (Non-Construction) position.
  • You may claim military spouse preference.
  • Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
  • Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.
  • If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
  • Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
  • This position is a TERM position. It is time-limited and may be extended up to a maximum of eight years. This position may be converted to permanent career or career-conditional appointment without further competition as long as all requirements are met. To be eligible for conversion, employee must complete at least 2 years of current continuous service under a term appointment in the competitive service AND employee must have a current performance rating under such term appointment of at least fully successful or equivalent.
  • Position may be filled as a temporary promotion, temporary reassignment, or temporary change to lower grade NTE 2 years by a current permanent Army employee. Temporary promotions, reassignments, or changes to lower grade may be extended and may be made permanent without further competition.
  • Permanent employees of another agency may be required to take a 3 day break in service.
  • Permanent federal employees are not guaranteed to return back to their permanent position prior to being placed in the time-limited position.
  • This position is obligated. An obligated position is one to which an employee has statutory restoration rights based on active military service, compensable injury or disability when fully recovered, or return rights based on having served an overseas tour(s). When an obligated position is filled either temporarily or permanently, the selected employee is required to sign an agreement acknowledging that they are aware of the obligation and accepts the fact that they may be displaced under reduction in force procedures at a later time.

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, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement.

If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Veterans and Military Spouses will be considered along with all other candidates.

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist for Public Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

  • Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
  • If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
  • For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
  • For additional information see: What to include in your resume.
2. Other supporting documents:
  • Cover Letter, optional
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on02/21/2025 to receive consideration.

  • To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12688319).
  • Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
  • After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
  • You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
  • It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
  • Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

Agency contact information

Army Applicant Help Desk
Address
M1-W08GAA REGIONAL HEALTH COMMAND-CENTRAL
DO NOT MAIL
Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234
US

Next steps

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking (as applicable) for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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