Entomologist

Clarification from the agency

"Agency" means current permanent DoD employees. Veterans eligibilities include 30% or more Disabled Vet and Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA). Special authorities mean NAF employees in the commuting area and DoD Civilian Spouse eligibles. Military Spouse Preference (MSP) eligibles, Retained Grade Preference (RGP) eligibles, and Military Reserve and National Guard Technician eligibles in the commuting area may also apply.

• Serves as the DLA Pest Management Program Manager , acting as the agency's point of contact (POC) and technical authority on all matters related to integrated pest management (IPM), medical entomology, and Force Health Protection (FHP).
• Provides comprehensive program oversight, develops long-range strategic plans, and advises Agency Senior Leaders on IPM methods to prevent critical economic and health losses.
• Serves as the certifying official for all DoD Pesticide Applicator Certifications held by the DLA workforce. Represents the Agency as a voting member of the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB).
• Conducts in-depth investigations and special studies (e.g., population evaluations, contractual evaluations) to resolve issues not susceptible to standard methods.
• Develops plans to prevent and control medical and economic issues caused by pests, disease vectors, and Invasive Alien Species (IAS).
• Develops and disseminates technical guidance, communication materials, and operational guidelines for novel situations.
• Monitors DLA installation compliance with all DoD, Federal (e.g., EPA), and international regulations, coordinating with other government agencies on shared FHP initiatives and providing expert assistance to local medical authorities and commands.
• Serves as the budget officer for DLA’s Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Office including the management of the Fiscal Year (FY) Annual Operating Budget (AOB) for Defense Working Capital Fund (DWCF) and Appropriated funds as required.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• Tour of Duty: Flexible
• Security Requirements: Non-Critical Sensitive with Secret Access
• Appointment is subject to the completion of a favorable suitability or fitness determination, where reciprocity cannot be applied; unfavorably adjudicated background checks will be grounds for removal.
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Exempt
• Selective Service Requirement: Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service.
• Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
• Bargaining Unit Status: No
• Selectees are required to have a REAL ID or other acceptable identification documents to access certain federal facilities. See https://www.tsa.gov/real-id for more information.
• Pre-Employment Physical: Required

Qualifications

To qualify for an Entomologist, your resume and supporting documentation must support:

A. Basic Requirement: A Bachelor's Degree or higher in entomology; or a related discipline of the biological or physical sciences that included at least 16 semester hours in entomology. Applicants with major fields of study in biology, zoology, or invertebrate zoology may fully meet the basic educational requirements if their academic preparation included substantive instruction (including appropriate laboratory and field work) in basic general entomology, taxonomy, physiology, ecology, general and organic chemistry, general physics, and mathematics or statistics that provided some training in the analysis of variables.

OR

Combination of education and experience - Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A. above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate fields. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation.

Education must be from an accredited college recognized by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education. If using education completed outside the U.S., it must be submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. YOU MUST SUBMIT TRANSCRIPTS. Failure to submit transcripts will result in a rating of ineligible.

AND

B. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position and is directly in or related to this position. To qualify at the GS-14 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military, or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including time-in-grade (General Schedule (GS) positions only), time-after-competitive appointment, minimum qualifications, and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Creditable specialized experience includes:

• Serving as the designated agency technical authority for medical entomology, vector borne disease surveillance, biosecurity, and Force Health Protection (FHP) across multiple installations or contingency locations to resolve vector-borne disease threats, conduct population evaluations, and advise on facility pest mitigation.
• Certifying pesticide applicators and coordinating/approving pesticide use plans ensuring compliance with applicator certification requirements.
• Overseeing the collection, reporting, and permanent archiving of pesticide application records in accordance with federal regulations (FIFRA, NEPA) and DoW records management policies.
• Designing, directing, and executing agency or enterprise-wide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs.

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.

Physical Demands: Some travel (10-25%) is involved conducting field surveys to obtain samples and assess conditions. There may be some walking, standing, bending and climbing, including the potential for travel to austere environments and/or lifting of moderately heavy objects.

Work Environment: The work is usually performed in an office environment. However, during field visits there is the potential for exposure to toxic chemicals and physical stress. Work involves exposure to moderate risks and discomfort. Incumbent may be required for periods of time to work in uncomfortable outdoor climates, such as very hot and humid, and wear uncomfortable protective and safety clothing and equipment when conducting survey and evaluation operations; encounter hostile wildlife; exposure to vectors in areas of endemic arthropod-borne disease transmission; exposure to chemical and physical hazards for which protective precautions are required or mandated by law. Certain immunizations as recommended by the medical authority may be required.

How you will be evaluated

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

The assessments for this job will measure the following Competencies:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Decision Making
• Reasoning

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume and supporting documentation may be completed and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. The rating you receive is based on your responses to the assessment questionnaire and USA Hire assessments. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the competencies required for this position. If your resume and/or supporting documentation is reviewed and 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. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.

To apply for this position you must provide a complete Application Package. Each Application Package MUST include:

1. Your Resume: IMPORTANT UPDATE: Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages. If your resume exceeds the two-page limit, you will be removed from consideration for this announcement. The resume and required supporting documentation should provide the minimum qualifications and relevant experience for the announced position. Must include the work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment, and duties performed. If multiple resumes are submitted by an applicant, only the last resume submitted will be reviewed for qualifications and referred for selection consideration, if eligible. The resume must not be more than 5MB and should be saved and uploaded as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. Page margins should be 0.5 inches, and font styles must be legible. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text. We recommend using a font like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.
   
2. Applicable documents to support the eligibility(s) for which you are applying. Please review the following link for a listing of the additional documents you will need to provide: Supporting Documents.
3. If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): If you are an eligible ICTAP applicant you may apply for special selection over other candidates for this position. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at a score of 85 or higher for this position. ICTAP eligibles must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.

Priority Placement Program (PPP) DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP): In order to receive this preference, you must choose to apply using the "Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP)" eligibility. If you are claiming MSP and are determined to be among the Best Qualified for the position, you may be referred to the hiring manager as a priority applicant. To be eligible as a MSP, you must submit the following supporting documents with your application package: Spouse's Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders; Marriage Certificate or License; PPP Self Certification Checklist; Veterans' Preference documentation (e.g., DD-214, VA Letter, Statement of Service, if applicable); Transcripts (if applicable). These documents must provide acceptable information to verify: Residency within the commuting area of your sponsor's permanent duty station (PDS); proof of marriage to the active duty sponsor; proof of military member's active duty status; and other documentation required by the vacancy announcement to which you are applying. NOTE: Previous federal employees must also submit the following additional documentation: SF-50s (e.g., LWOP, highest grade held, overseas appointments, etc.), SF-75 information, and documentation of performance rating of record (dated within the last 12 months). Selected PPP MSP applicants will need to certify they have not accepted nor declined another offer of permanent, Federal employment (to include NAF and the military exchange services) since relocating to the military sponsor's current duty station.

Priority Placement Program (PPP) DoD Retained Grade Preference (RGP): In order to receive this preference, you must choose to apply using the "Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference (RGP)" eligibility. If you are claiming RGP and are determined to be Well Qualified (score of 85 or above) for the position, you will be referred to the hiring manager as a priority applicant. Information and required documentation for claiming RGP may be found at the General Applicant Information and Definitions link below. To be eligible as a RGP, you must submit the following supporting documents with your application package: a signed Retained Grade PPP Self-Certification Checklist (DD3145-1 (whs.mil)); a copy of your Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) effecting the placement in retained grade status; or a copy of the notification letter you received regarding the RIF or classification downgrade.

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