Consumer Safety Officer Job in FDA – US Locations, United States

Vacancy No. FDA-OII-25-IMP-12635251-DK Department Food and Drug Administration
Salary $88,520.00 to $115,079.00 Grade 13 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 12/19/2024 Close Date 1/6/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
FDA – US Locations, United States


Summary

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Inspections and Investigations (OII), Office of Field Operations and Response (OFOR). The incumbent is responsible for conducting inspections and investigations of regulated tobacco products, firms, and facilities to assess compliance with the law and regulations.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), serving on a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service; current federal employees of FDA eligible for appointment under Schedule A (individuals with disabilities); Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps Officers employed by FDA; and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) eligibles may also apply.

Duties

  • Conducts special complex studies; inspections and investigations, such as possible adulteration, misbranding or illicit trade of Tobacco products.
  • Serves as a technical expert in inspectional/ investigative techniques in the functional area of tobacco products with responsibility for conducting comprehensive inspections/ investigations of regulated tobacco firms and manufacturing facilities.
  • Serves as a “trouble shooter” in the tobacco program area and is called upon to resolve recurring problems of national or international scope encountered by other field office, regions, or The Center for Tobacco Products.
  • Participates in developing and conducting, within the tobacco program area, specialized, highly technical and complex training courses.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Citizenship Requirement: You must be a U.S. Citizen to be considered for this advertisement unless explicitly stated otherwise.
  • FDA participates in e-Verify: All new hires must complete the I-9 form; this information will be processed through e-Verify to determine your employment eligibility. If a discrepancy arises, you must take affirmative steps to resolve the matter.
  • Selective Service Registration: All applicants born male, on (or after) 12/31/1959, must be registered with the Selective Service System OR have an approved exemption. Visit www.SSS.gov for more info.
  • Background Investigation Requirement: All employees must pass a security investigation. Failing to pass the background check may be grounds for removal or legal action. If hired, you may be subject to additional investigations at a later time.
  • Time-in-Grade Requirement: If you are applying as a current Federal employee, you must meet the time-in-grade requirements described in the Qualifications section, generally, 52-weeks of comparable experience at the next lowest grade.
  • Certification of Accuracy: All information concerning eligibility and qualification is subject to investigation and verification. False representation may be grounds for non-consideration, non-selection, or appropriate legal action.
  • You must meet ALL requirements by the closing date of this announcement to be considered. Only education, experience, and qualifications attained by this date will be considered. You must continue to meet all requirements through the hiring process.
  • Direct Deposit: You will be required to have all federal salary payments electronically deposited into a bank account with a financial institution of your choice.
  • Additional selections may be made from this vacancy, within the same geographical area, by other organizational elements from within FDA, through shared corporate recruiting activities.
  • A valid State Drivers License.
  • Subject to one-year probationary period, if not previously served.
  • Position requires physical exertion such as long periods of standing, walking, recurring bending, or similar activities; or frequent lifting of moderately heavy items weighing up to 50 pounds.
  • This position requires up to 75% travel and may include foreign travel.

Qualifications

The position of Consumer Safety Officer falls within the 0696 occupational series. To qualify for this position at grade GS-13, you must meet Time-in-Grade requirements by 11:59 pm EST on 01/03/2025.

Time-in-Grade: Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 grade level or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

In addition to meeting Time-in-Grade requirements, you must also meet the Basic Requirements and have at least one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level or higher in the Federal service.

Basic Requirements: This position requires a degree or completion of specific courses in order to meet the basic education requirement. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Your transcript(s) must clearly demonstrate the course(s) listed in the Basic Qualification requirement section. If the transcript(s) does not clearly demonstrate this, you must submit a copy of the course description and/or other documentation demonstrating that the courses are equivalent. Degree requirements must be met by the closing date of this job announcement and your transcript(s) submitted must reflect this. If you are selected for the position, an official transcript sent directly from your educational institution will be required for verification prior to appointment. Current employees and anyone who has held this series/grade ARE NOT exempt from the transcript requirement and must still submit transcripts. Applicants must have successfully completed one of the following basic requirements (A or B).

A. Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in quality assurance or a related degree that included at least 30 semester hours in one or a combination of the following: consumer laws, biological sciences, food science, chemistry, pharmacy, physical sciences, food technology, nutrition, medical science, engineering, epidemiology, veterinary medical science, legal investigations, law enforcement, or related scientific fields that provided knowledge directly related to consumer safety officer work. The 30 semester hours may include up to 8 semester hours in statistics, or course work that included the principles, theory, or practical application of computers or computer programming.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience--courses consisting of at least 30 semester hours in the fields of study described in paragraph A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

NOTE: Applicants must submit all relevant transcripts that demonstrate you possess the required education to meet the Basic Qualifications.

AND

Minimum Qualifications: Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. The specialized experience must demonstrate one year of full-time work experience or the equivalent if part-time (for example, an employee working 20 hours per week for a 12-month period should be credited with 6 months of experience.) Experience may have been obtained in either the federal service or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations.

GS-13: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, in the Federal service, which includes: conducting technical and complex inspections/investigations; evaluating data and evidence to assess adherence to policy and regulatory compliance; interpreting and implementing existing laws, regulations, and guidance.


In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the percentage of times the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record. In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.

PHS Commissioned Corps Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps may apply online to this announcement. Candidates will be referred to (CC) personnel and not as candidates for conversion to a permanent career or career-conditional appointment.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account,https://secure.login.gov/ select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.

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). 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.

You must submit supporting documentation to verify your eligibility to apply for this vacancy.
For internal applicants an SF-50 will be required. If Educational requirements are listed, you must submit a Transcript, even if you occupy the series/grade in question. See the Required Documents section for full details...

Education

There is no education substitution for this position at the GS-13 grade level. See Qualifications section for information on education-related individual occupational requirements (IOR) for this occupational series.

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.

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.

See the Application Manager Documentation for tips on submitting your paper-based documents.

FOREIGN EDUCATION
Applicants using part, or all of their education completed outside of the U.S. to meet the qualification requirements, must have their foreign education evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that the foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. We will only accept the completed foreign credential evaluation.

To be acceptable, the foreign credential evaluation must include/describe at a minimum, the following information: (1) The type of education received by the applicant; (2) The level of education in relation to the U.S. education system, and state that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the International Evaluation Standards Council; (3) The content of the applicant's educational program earned abroad, and the standard obtained; (4) The status of the awarding foreign school's recognition and legitimacy in its home country's education system; and (5) Any other information of interest such as what the evaluation service did to obtain this information, the qualifications of the evaluator, and any indications as to other problems such as forgery. Note: Some positions require the completion of specific courses or a specified number of credit hours. Therefore, the foreign credential evaluation should provide information similar to that of an official transcript, to include a list of the courses taken, quarter and/or semester hours awarded, the cumulative grade point average (GPA), honors received, if any, date degree awarded.
Applicants can request an evaluation from a member organization of one of the two national associations of credential evaluation services listed below:

  1. National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES)
  2. Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE)
Credential evaluations are not free, and applicants are responsible for the cost of the selected service.
For more information about this requirement, please visit the https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/

Additional information

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • Pre-employment physical required: No.
  • Drug testing required: No.
  • License required: Yes. A valid state drivers license.
  • Mobility agreement required: No.
  • Immunization required: No.
  • Bargaining Unit: Yes, 3591 - National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) or American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) 1449.
  • If you are serving, or have served in the last 5 years (from 01/03/2025) as an Executive Branch political, Schedule C, or Non-career SES appointee, HHS/FDA may be required to obtain approval by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) prior to beginning employment. You can find out if you have held one of these appointment types by looking at your Standard Form 50s in your Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF), in Section 5 where the legal authorities are listed. If you have served or are currently serving, you must provide a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, documenting this appointment. In addition, you will be required to respond to the question in the assessment and certify your responses to the questionnaire. Political Appointees FAQ - OPM
Incentives may be authorized; however, this is contingent upon funds availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require you to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a period of up to 3 years. Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid. Incentives include the following: moving expenses, recruitment or relocation incentive; student loan repayment, superior qualifications appointment, creditable service for annual leave for prior non-federal work experience or prior uniformed military service, etc.
This position may require financial disclosure reporting and will be subject to FDA's prohibited financial interest regulation. If you are hired, you may be required to divest of certain financial interests. You are advised to seek additional information on this requirement from the hiring official before accepting any job offers. For more information please visit the FDA Ethics web page: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/jobs-and-training-fda/ethics.

Applicants selected for this position will be subject to reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing upon hiring. To demonstrate commitment to the HHS goal of a drug-free workplace and to set an example for other Federal employees, employees not in a testing designated position may volunteer for unannounced random testing by notifying their Drug-free Federal Workplace Program Point of Contact upon hiring.

All requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement (01/03/2025); only education and experience gained by this date will be considered. You must continue to meet all requirements throughout the hiring process.
Additional selections may be made within the same geographical area FDA-wide.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Once the job opportunity announcement closes (at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on 01/03/2025), a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be conducted, the information will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your eligibility for this internal position. Eligible internal candidates will be referred to the hiring official for consideration.

If you are referred to the hiring manager for consideration, you may be further evaluated based on an interview; review of requested work samples, writing samples, most recent performance evaluation(s), or professional references; or results of an oral presentation or work-related test. Failure to comply with any of the additional assessment requirements will result in removal from further consideration. These assessment methods/tools may also be listed under Key Requirements.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Basis of Rating: Best qualified competitive merit promotion candidates and all qualified noncompetitive candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): Well-Qualified is defined as an applicant who meets the qualification standards and eligibility requirements for the position, including minimum educational and experience requirements; any medical qualifications and suitability; is able to perform the essential duties of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation; meets any applicable selective placement factors) for the position (such as the ability to speak a specific language or any other factor required immediately upon hire); and is able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, surplus or displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85.0 or above on the rating criteria for this position. Learn more on the USAJOBS Career Transition Assistance Site.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics). You do not have to respond to the KSA's separately, but your resume should contain sufficient information to demonstrate possession of the Competencies/KSA's.

  1. Technical competence.
  2. Problem solving.
  3. Written communication.
To preview the application questionnaire, click the link below.
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12635251

Required Documents

Resume: At a minimum, your resume should list the position title, employer name, start and end dates (including month and year), salary (or grade and step), hours worked per week, and a list of duties performed or accomplishments, for EACH position listed. A CV (curriculum vitae) may not contain enough information to meet these resume requirements.

Transcripts and Professional Licensure: If the position has an education or licensure requirement or you are qualifying based on education, unofficial transcripts or a list of courses and a copy of your professional license must be provided. See the Qualifications and Education Requirements section of this announcement.

Current and Former Federal Employees:
To verify your eligibility and status, you must submit your most recent SF-50 showing you are/were in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. The SF-50 must also show the following:
  1. Full position title;
  2. Pay Plan, Series, Grade, & Step;
  3. Position Occupied;
  4. Tenure code; and
  5. Service Computation Date (SCD).
If you are applying for a higher grade, the SF-50 provided must also demonstrate you meet time-in-grade. NOTE: Annual pay adjustment and award SF-50s normally do not show time-in-grade is met. Multiple SF-50s may need to be submitted to show all the required information. Learn more on the USAJOBS SF-50 Help Page.

Current Federal Employees: To receive due weight for performance appraisals and incentives, provide a copy of your most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months of application) showing rating received. Incentives received and accomplishments may be listed in your resume instead of on a separate document.

CTAP: If you are a surplus or displaced HHS employee, please submit supporting documentation (e.g., a Certification of Expected Separation, separation notice, RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal, SF-50 for RIF separation, etc.) and your most recent performance appraisal. To be selected under CTAP, you must be found well-qualified for this position and have a current performance appraisal rating of at least "Fully Successful". See the How You Will Be Evaluated section for the agency's definition of well-qualified. Learn more on the USAJOBS Career Transition Assistance Site.

Current employees eligible under Schedule A (individuals with disabilities): Individuals with intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities, may apply for appointment through the Schedule A hiring authority. Certified verification of a disability from a licensed medical professional; a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist; or any Federal, state, or District of Columbia agency or U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits will be required. Learn more on the USAJOBS Individuals with Disabilities Site.

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 positions with the Food & Drug Administration, you must have a https://secure.login.gov/ account and be signed in to that account before you click the "Apply Online" button. See the USAJOBS Help Article "How does the application process work?" for more on this process. Additionally, you must provide a resume any required supporting documentation listed on the announcement, and you must complete all assessment questionnaires BEFORE 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement,01/03/2025. We recommend that you start the application process early enough that you can complete and submit your application before this deadline.
Please note that you cannot submit documentation or make changes to your application after the closing date.

If you would like to learn how to use USAJOBS including: accessing and managing your account, adding saved documents, building a resume, or starting an application; we recommend you visit the USAJOBS How To site, and read up on any topic that you need help with. This site is located at: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/. Additionally, if you need technical assistance with USAJOBS (such as account issues) please visit the main USAJOBS Help site at: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/. FDA's Applicant Help Desk cannot assist you with USAJOBS-related issues.

The Food & Drug Administration uses a system called Application Manager (USA Staffing) to post jobs and accept applications. If you are not familiar with Application Manager or you encounter any difficulty with the site, we recommend that you visit the Applicant HELP Site at: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Applicant. This help site contains step-by-step instructions for completing the application process, submitting documentation, and completing questionnaires, and should be very helpful to you!

You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. The FDA will provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities who are not able to apply online. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please contact the Applicant Help Desk. Decisions on granting a reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

If after reviewing the USAJOBS and Application Manager help sites, you're not able to find the answer to your question or concern, or if you wish to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the FDA Applicant Help Desk at 866-807-3742, or e-mail ERIC@fda.hhs.gov. The Applicant Help Desk is staffed between the hours of 7am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except for government holidays. If you contact the Applicant Help Desk, please provide the following Vacancy Identification Number (VIN) 12635251 so that we may assist you faster.

Agency contact information

FDA Applicant Help Desk
Address
FDA Center Office of Inspection and Investigation
10903 New Hampshire Ave
Silver Spring, MD 20852
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within the local commuting area(s) of the location identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) at HHS. Clearance of CTAP/ICTAP will be applied for similar positions across HHS.

HHS has a critical preparedness and response mission: HHS protects the American people from health threats, researches emerging diseases, and mobilizes public health programs with domestic and international partners. In support of this mission, HHS offers its employees the opportunity to volunteer to become Federal Civilian Detailees and contribute their unique skills through voluntary temporary assignments to humanitarian emergencies or Departmental priorities countering new and emerging health, safety, and security threats.


You will receive application status updates via email and via USAJOBS as the process unfolds.
How to check your application status and understand what each status means.
How the application process works.


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