Clarification from the agency

Current permanent employees of the FDA serving on a career or career-conditional appointment and (CTAP) eligible may apply. Current FDA employees eligible for appointment under Schedule A (individuals with disabilities). PHS Commissioned Corps Officers (CC) interested in performing duties of this position as a CC may apply for consideration but not as candidates for a career-conditional/career appointment under Title 5.

• Provides authoritative and professional expertise in dealing with the microbiological aspects of public health issues related to tobacco products.
• Drafts or critically reviews documents embodying policy and program proposals and decisions on the microbial composition of tobacco products.
• Leads the design and conduct of studies to define the composition and stability of tobacco products.
• Leads a team of microbiologists.
• Provides verbal and written conclusions to other Federal agencies, industry, universities, and state, local, foreign governments.
• Provides recommendations and guidance to other Center review organizations and review scientists and the regulated industry.

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.
• All applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and be subject to random, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident drug testing upon hiring.
• Appointment to the position will be contingent upon a negative applicant drug test result.
• Probationary periods are required for new employees appointed to competitive service positions for the first time; or reinstated employees who return after a break in service of 30-days or more and who have not completed a probationary period.
• Trial periods are required for all excepted service employees. Trial periods served in the same position and agency with no break in service will satisfy the requirement.

Qualifications

The position of Supervisory Microbiologist falls within the 0403 occupational series. To qualify for this position at grade GS-14, you must meet Time-in-Grade requirements by 11:59 pm EST on 03/11/2026.

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.

Have a degree in microbiology; or biology, chemistry, or basic medical science that included at least 20 semester hours in microbiology and other subjects related to the study of microorganisms, and 20 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences combining course work in organic chemistry or biochemistry, physics, and college algebra, or their equivalents.

OR

Have a combination of education and experience in courses equivalent to a major in microbiology, biology, chemistry, or basic medical science that included courses as shown in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

AND

GS-14: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13, in the Federal service, which includes: Serves as a technical authority, providing biology and nonclinical science expertise related to the microbiological aspects of public health issues; Serves as a senior regulatory reviewer with responsibility for analyzing and determining the adequacy of data and tests submitted by a manufacturer regarding the safety and public health impact of regulated products; Serves as a principal advisor to Division leadership and is recognized as the authority in assigned responsibility, responsible for planning, coordinating, and evaluating the regulatory review programs and activities

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...

How you will be evaluated

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

You must meet the requirements of the job by 11:59 (Eastern Standard Time) of the closing date: 03/11/2026

Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position (as listed in this vacancy announcement above) will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and your score from the required assessment(s).


The application review process will be conducted in multiple stages:

Eligibility Consideration: Once the application process is complete, the Human Resources Office will review your application and supporting documentation to determine it is complete, meets the two (2) page resume limit and meets the eligibility requirements for this vacancy.


Minimum Qualifications: Then, the Human Resources Office will review your resume and supporting documentation to determine whether you meet the minimum job requirements and qualifications.

Assessment and Rating Process: This vacancy will use the following assessment(s): Structured Resume Review

Next, the Human Resources Office and/or Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will review your technical qualifications based on the extent and quality of your experience, education (if applicable to the job), and training described in your resume, questionnaire, and assessment documentation as related to the duties and competencies of this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics). You need not respond to the KSA's separately, but your resume should contain sufficient information to demonstrate possession of these competencies.

• Technical Competence
• Planning and Evaluating
• Leadership
• Writing
• Oral Communication

This assessment and rating process will determine your quality category for referral. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your skills and abilities.

All qualified Non-Competitive applicants and the best-qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position (obtain a score of 85 or higher on assessments); and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit:
http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp.

Referral 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.

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.

• USAJobs - What to Include
• USAJobs - Page Limit

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

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.

Current employees eligible under VRA: You must submit a DD-214 form (Certificate of Release or Discharge) that has the dates of service and discharge status and VA Disability Letter, if applicable.

Next steps