Clarification from the agency

This job is open to: Status Candidates; DRRA Eligibles; Former Overseas Employees; CTAP; ICTAP; VEOA; 30% or More Disabled veterans; Schedule A; Military Spouses; Peace Corps; Americorps; Vista; Land/Base Management; Boren Awardees; and, Interchange Agreement Eligibles.

All MWEOC staff have emergency assignments and are considered deployed in place. Exercises and activations are planned and unplanned, and may require long hours, nights, weekends and holidays.

All MWEOC employees are: (1) required to use a government-issued electronic device (to include cellular phones); (2) subject to recall during emergency situations; and (3) required to perform work in locations both above and below ground.

What will I do in this position if hired?

In this position, you will be responsible for Industrial Hygiene (IH) systems, principles, best practices, and calculations and the application of IH methods, standards and materials. Typical assignments include:

• Developing and maintaining environmental, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and safety policies and procedures for a facility, ensuring that the facility meets federal and state requirements and regulations.
• Conducting indoor air quality surveys (IAQ), sampling and remediation of asbestos.
• Maintaining industrial hygiene, and Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health (ESOH) technical capabilities in support of essential Federal emergency missions always and under all conditions.
• Serving as the point of contact for inspections conducted by Federal agencies and the State of Virginia and as the central point of contact with mission partners for environmental, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and safety matters.
• Coordinating with DHS's Health and Medical Readiness (HMR) Branch and FEMA Headquarters to support FEMA's strategic goal to provide preparedness and response capability to support the Federal response to acts of terrorism and execute plans and procedures to prevent or mitigate the effects.

What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

Conditions of employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Key Requirements:

1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
3. Selective Service registration required.
4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.

Qualifications

This position has a positive education requirement. In addition to the Specialized Experience requirement, you must meet the listed education requirement below. (Submission of transcript is required.)

The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (external link) at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

• A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science; or
• A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene; or
• Certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (external link) (ABIH).

Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable.

Evaluation of Education
All science or engineering courses offered in fulfillment of the above requirements must be acceptable for credit toward the completion of a standard 4-year professional curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in science or engineering at an accredited college or university. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum.

Evaluation of Experience
Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls.
Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment.

And in addition to the basic requirements above you must meet the below specialized experience.

Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The time-in-grade requirement must be met within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

1. . Identifying, evaluating, and controlling workplace hazards (i.e., chemical, physical, biological) to be able to design and implement sampling programs for mitigation AND;
   2. Ensuring facility programs are in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), with federal, state, and local law regulations AND;
   3. Performing investigations for complex industrial hygiene (IH) programs and providing recommendations and/or corrective actions AND;
   4. Reviewing processes, procedures, specifications for industrial hygiene (IH) programs AND;
   5. Conducting and providing assistance with sampling, monitoring, environmental data for industrial hygiene (IH) programs.

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

• Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

• Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.
• Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Are you qualifying based on your work experience?

• Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level.

• Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/DAE employee? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.

• Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."

• 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

• For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the basic qualifications, your experience, education and training will be rated using a Subject Matter Expert - Structured Resume Review that is based on the following competencies needed to perform this job:

1. Communication
2. Customer Service
3. Representing the Agency
4. Teamwork & Collaboration
5. Technical Proficiency

Human Resources Specialists and Subject Matter Experts will review your two-page resume (starting with your work experience) to determine your qualifications for the position based on the required competencies and specialized experience statements. In describing your experience, be clear and specific and include start and end dates for each position. We may not make assumptions regarding your experience.
Based on the review of your resume for the specialized experience required for this position, you may be referred to hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview.

CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; and, 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility (see "Required Documents" section of this announcement). Well-Qualified is defined as those applicants who are rated with a minimum score of 85.00 for this position.

Interview Requirement: Interviews may be required for this position. Failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration.?

Do not include photos, personally identifying information (PII) (including birthday and social security numbers), or personal information such as age, sex, medical history, etc. Resumes that include any of this information will be disqualified.

You must provide the following supporting documentation for your application package, including:

• Resume. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.
• Responses to the job questionnaire. You will be directed to the online job questionnaire during the application.
• Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution. Once selected, applicants must provide an official college transcript.
• Are you a current or former federal employee? Upload documentation that supports your eligibility. Award SF-50's do not include all the required information and will not be accepted.
  • Are you eligible for appointment based on current or previous competitive status eligibility? We need to verify your competitive status eligibility and qualifications at the next lower level. You may need to upload multiple SF-50's, one that shows your competitive eligibility and another for time in grade:
    • Competitive Eligibility: Submit an SF-50 that demonstrates your current or previous appointment to a permanent or conditional competitive service position, including your current or highest grade level, career or career conditional tenure and status in the competitive service, or proof of permanent appointment if applying based on an interchange agreement. We recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50, current SF-50, or within-grade increase SF-50.
    • Time in grade: If you are applying for a higher grade, you may need to provide an additional SF-50. We recommend submitting a promotion with an effective date more than one year (1) year old or Within-Grade-Increase at the highest grade held.
  • Are you a current or former FEMA Stafford Act employee who is eligible for appointment based on the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA)? You may be eligible if you have served as a FEMA Stafford Act employee for three or more years since August 1, 2014, without a break in service. Upload the following documents (you may be found ineligible if both documents are not uploaded):
    • DRRA Eligibility: Submit a copy of your "Notice of DRRA Eligibility" provided by OCHCO. If you believe that you may be eligible, but have not received your notice, please reach out to the HR Specialist listed in the announcement.
    • Reservist Stafford Act Employees will be required to submit a copy of their most recent SF-50 as well as a copy of the "DRRA Notice of Eligibility" issued by FEMA. Applicants who believe they are eligible, but have not received a "Notice of Eligibility," should contact the FEMA representative listed in the "Agency contact information" section of this announcement.
    • Experience at the next lower level: Submit a copy of your most recent (or highest grade) SF-50. We recommend submitting a promotion with an effective date more than one year (1) year old or Within-Grade-Increase at the highest grade held.

• Are you eligible for appointment under a non-competitive hiring authority, such as Schedule A, eligible veterans, certain military spouses, etc.? Upload supporting documentation specific to the non-competitive hiring authority. Please do not include any personal medical history. For additional information please visit:
  1. OPM: Documentation of Schedule A (Individuals with Disabilities)
  2. FedsHireVets: Veteran and Military Spouse Hiring
• Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP/CTAP)? Upload the following:
  • Agency Notice
  • Most recent performance rating, and
  • Most recent SF-50, with your current position, grade level and duty location.

Other Supporting Documentation (submit if applicable to you)

• Are you a veteran? Submit Member Copy 4 of your DD-214 or other (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) and/or documentation of service-connected disability. If applying based on eligibility under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must submit certification from the Armed Forces that you will be discharged or released from active duty within 120 days from the date on the certification. Certifications must be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service (e.g. honorable, dishonorable, general etc.). View more veterans' information.
• Are you a Boren Awardee? Submit a copy of your National Security Education Program (NSEP) certification letter. You may be asked to provide a copy of your recent performance appraisal and or incentive awards.

Next steps