County Executive Director Expanded Job in Guthrie Center, IA

Vacancy No. FSACO-12611760-25-IA-KR Department Farm Service Agency
Salary $39,868.00 to $113,879.00 Grade 5 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/21/2024 Close Date 12/4/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Guthrie Center, IA


Summary

This a County Executive Director - Expanded position located in the Guthrie County Farm Service Agency Office, in Guthrie Center, Iowa.

Per 27-PM, Par. 472E, this vacancy is being advertised with an expanded area of consideration.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Open to US Citizens and US Nationals.

Duties

  • Responsible for directing and managing program and administrative operations for one or more counties.
  • Carrying out permanent and ad hoc farm bill programs and policies established by USDA as well as crop insurance operations under policies established by the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
  • Providing basic FSA farm loan program services.
  • May perform additional farm loan program assignments based on authorities delegated.
  • Performing office and field activities as needed to accomplish program objectives.
  • Managing and directs activities of subordinate staff.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service Registered or Exempt.
  • Must be a high school graduate or equivalent.
  • Must be 18 years of age or 17 years of age for high school graduates.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Successful completion of one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period, if required.
  • Financial Disclosure Required (FSA-324).

Qualifications

Qualifications are in accordance with requirements in Handbook 27-PM.

Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date in the announcement. including the following specialized experience and/or education, as identified below:

You may start at the CO-05 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
  • Successful completion of four years of education above high school in an accredited business, secretarial or technical, junior college, college or university in any field in which high school graduation or the equivalent is a prerequisite or bachelor's degree from such an accredited college or university. OR
  • At least one year of general work experience in support of projects, programs, or assignments providing a requisite knowledge of agricultural operations, agricultural management, governmental programs, or related office and customer service functions that indicate the ability to: analyze problems, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions; plan and organize work; resolve conflict; communicate effectively both orally and in writing. OR
  • A combination of education and experience as described above.
You may start at the CO-07 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
  • Successful completion of one full year of graduate education from an accredited college or university. OR
  • Superior Academic Achievement: A bachelor's degree in any field of study from an accredited college or university with either:
    • grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 based on a 4.0 scale;
    • 3.5 GPA based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study;
    • class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college;
    • membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies.
An applicant must submit an unofficial copy of their transcript at the initial phase of the application process demonstrating that they qualify based on superior academic achievement. If selected for the position, an official transcript must be provided from the college or university before the applicant entering on duty. OR
  • One-year specialized experience equivalent to grade CO-5 or GS-5 level. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates knowledge of basic principles, concepts, and methods of fact-finding, analysis, and problem-solving techniques as they apply to the analysis, evaluation, and application of agricultural program requirements. In addition, knowledge of and skill in applying analytical and evaluative techniques to assist in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural program operations to make recommendations for improvements. OR
  • Six months of experience as a CED or CEDT at the CO-5 level. OR
  • A combination of education and experience as described above.
You may start at the CO-09 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
  • A Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university. OR
  • One-year experience equivalent to at least grade CO-7 or GS-7 in the federal service. Experience demonstrates knowledge of agricultural program policies and practices to independently examine applications, supporting documents, and program reports. In addition, experience applying analytical and evaluative techniques to assist in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural program operations to make recommendations for improvements. OR
  • 1 year of any supervisory experience.
  • A combination of education and experience as described above.
You may start at the CO-11 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
  • One-year experience equivalent to at least grade CO-9 or GS-9 in the federal service.
You may start at the CO-12 level if you have one of the following qualifications:
  • One-year experience equivalent to at least grade CO-11 or GS-11 in the federal service.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit with your application package evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution was appropriately accredited by an accredited body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. Education standards. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process; however, if selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Please refer to the "How to Apply" section for instructions on submitting the transcript.

Additional information

Veterans preference does not apply since this position is being advertised under Title 7 authorities.

Relocation expenses are not authorized.

When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.

This is a Title 7, Non-Federal, Non-Civil Service position.

This announcement may be used to fill one or more vacancies.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact: USDAs TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

Optional - This position may be eligible to telework up to two (2) days per biweekly pay period (1 day per week) upon supervisory approval. This position may also be eligible for flexible work schedules in accordance with Department and Agency directives.

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.

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet:

  1. Minimum qualification requirements and
  2. Your resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.
Those determined to meet qualifications will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Note: If after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your qualifications. Providing inaccurate information on County and Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to and including removal from County and Federal service.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12611760

Required Documents

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

  1. Personal information such as name, address, contact information.
  2. Education.
  3. Detailed Work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; for current or previous Federal or FSA County employees, it should also include the Title, Pay Plan, Series and Grade and Step for each work experience entry.
  4. Other qualifications.
  • If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient at the time of application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
For current and former USDA employees, the following documents are encouraged but not required.
  • Performance Appraisal (Most Recent Signed) or a statement stating why you don't have a Performance Appraisal.
  • SF-50 (Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) or equivalent showing position title, series, grade and salary.)
NOTE: If selected, applicant will be required to provide this documentation within 7 days of receipt of Tentative Job Offer. Failure to provide required documentation will jeopardize further consideration.

You will not be contacted for additional information.

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

Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact us at Katie.Robyn@usda.gov well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this.

To begin, click "Apply Online" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.

NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.

Once your application has been submitted, we recommend you save or print your completed application and a screen print of uploaded documents for your reference.

Agency contact information

Jessica Ehrsam
Phone
515-331-8422
Fax
855-218-8673
Email
Jessica.Ehrsam@usda.gov
Address
Farm Service Agency - County Offices
10500 Buena Vista Court
Des Moines, IA 50322
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account at USAJOBS account to check your application status.

You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).


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


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