General Biologist

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees with competitive status; and USDA CTAP/RPL eligible candidates and permanent Farm Service County office employees.

• Serves as an authoritative source and nationally recognized expert in the assessment of pest management practices in risk/benefit evaluations.
• Independently plans and coordinates environmental evaluations and risk assessments involving complex crop production systems, including specialty crops, and large ecological systems.
• Provides scientific briefings orally or in writing for senior officials. As needed, aids in assessing risks associated with chemical, biological, physical hazards, and other threats to agriculture and the food supply.
• Represents OPMP and USDA at national and international events for risk assessment and ecological or human health concerns related to pest management and pesticides. Participates in expert panels, leads workshops, and participates as appropriate.
• Provides scientific and technical guidance based on knowledge about crop production practices, particularly as they relate to pest management and pesticides.
• Represents OPMP and USDA on various pesticide/human health/ecological-related committees. Provides independent scientific and regulatory advice on pest management and pesticide issues to USDA agencies.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with agency officials, other government officials, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, university personnel, industry representatives, grower groups, etc.
• Serves as a liaison with EPA, USDA staff, and Land Grant and industry scientists involved in risk assessment and decision making related to pest management/pesticides to ensure assessment of technology is characterized correctly.
• Presents results of analyses to USDA, regulatory agencies, and stakeholders, and prepares plans to mitigate the biological and economic impacts of proposed pesticide and pest management regulatory decisions.
• Assignments require extensive analysis to determine the nature and scope of the problems. Using a variety of analytical methods and techniques to assess a wide range of scientific, legal, and risk issues related to pest management and pesticides.
• Develops and coordinates the sharing of information scientific advice within OPMP and providing coordination/guidance to risk assessors across the Department on pesticide and pest management issues as needed.
• Writes scientific documents for internal/external purposes on risk assessment, the environment, and regulatory impacts. Recommendations have a continual/lasting effect on governmental or private organization programs/policies.
• Independently identifies developments in science policy issues and/or pesticide regulatory decisions that have implications for agriculture, including implications of international pesticide-related activities.
• Provides unifying expertise in interpreting science and advanced risk assessment techniques on high-level multi-disciplinary teams, including identifying novel risk assessment methods, as appropriate.

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.
• 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/.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including Basic Requirements and Minimum Qualification Requirements, as defined below.

Time in grade:
Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

Basic Requirements:In addition to meeting the Minimum Qualification Requirements outlined in the following section, applicants MUST meet the following occupational series requirements:

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.

Ecology Series, 0408 Degree:
A. Degree: biology, or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours in ecology, and 12 semester hours in physical and mathematical sciences.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

General Physical Science Series, 1301A. 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: In addition to meeting at least one of the Basic Requirements outlined above, applicants must also meet the specialized experience and/or education requirements shown below. If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements.


Specialized Experience:
In addition to meeting at least one of the Basic Requirements as shown above, applicants must also meet the Specialized Experience requirements as shown below. If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

GS-15: Qualifying experience for GS-15 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-14 which is directly related to the work of this position, and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is professional experience in pesticide risk assessment, including independently providing authoritative inputs into pesticide risk management decisions; recognized expertise in crop production practices, ecological protection requirements (e.g., ESA, etc.), and emerging science and policy issues related to pesticides; familiarity with State Lead Agency (SLA) processes and perspectives; experience leading multi-disciplinary teams on nationally-relevant pesticide issues; experience identifying and proposing novel regulatory alternatives for pest management policy decisions, including for highly-complex cases; and communicating with policy analysts, officials, leadership, interagency partners, and general audiences about pesticide regulatory considerations.

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 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.

You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies listed below:

• Risk Assessment
• Technical Analysis and Science Synthesis
• Leadership
• Communication

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the 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. Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities need only meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume, starting at your work experience. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., links embedded in your resume will not be opened). Applicants passing the resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

Note: If after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the 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/12979633

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages.

Transcripts: If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required 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. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

Current and former Federal employees:

• Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service, highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade AND
• Most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute.

Current permanent FSA County employees must submit your most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing your highest grade (or promotion potential) held on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade AND most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) per above.

Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

Next steps