Veterinary Medical Officer (District Veterinary Medical Officer) Job in Milan, MO

Vacancy No. FSIS-26-MMP-12815091-PJS Department Food Safety and Inspection Service
Salary $105,383.00 to $137,000.00 Grade 13 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 10/16/2025 Close Date 10/22/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Milan, MO


Summary

Positions are located in the Office of Field Operations, Springdale District and reports to the District Office with assigned area of in-plant coverage as determined by Agency. This position serves as primary contact for all veterinary duties associated with food safety, animal welfare, foreign animal disease surveillance, ante-mortem and postmortem procedures and dispositions, and export certification.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent FSIS employees with competitive status; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

Duties

  • Interpret and analyze guidelines and regulations.
  • Implement guidelines, policies, and regulations to provide personnel support.
  • Conduct research and investigations to make judgments and recommendations.
  • Foster working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Communicate guidelines and process to plant personnel.
  • Draft recommendations, reports, and guidance documents.
  • Apply veterinary medical concepts, principles, and practices.
  • Perform routine onsite humane handling and good commercial practices.

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.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period.
  • 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/.

Qualifications

Please reference the specific Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualifications standards for the 0701 Job Series.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and education, as defined below.

Time in grade: Applicants must have one year of time in grade at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g. one year at the GS-12 grade level for consideration for the GS-13 grade level).

Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g. one year at the GS-12 grade level for consideration for the GS-13 grade level).

Your 52 weeks of specialized experience must demonstrate the ability to perform, plan or manage veterinary medical activities. Qualifying experience includes:
  • Experience applying and enforcing policies, practices, and regulations.
  • Knowledge of veterinary medical concepts, scientific literature, and emerging issues related to food safety.
  • Experience in coordination of new or revised veterinary medical policies, methods, or procedures.
  • Experience interpreting and applying the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of the inspection program such as humane handling, antemortem, postmortem, inspection procedures conducted in slaughter establishments, Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), or Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP).
  • Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
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.

Education

In order to meet the basic educational requirements for the GS-0701, applicants must have completed a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a school or college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA). The AVMA website has a listing of all AVMA-accredited veterinary medical schools.

OR

Graduates of foreign veterinary medical schools that are not accredited by the AVMA Council on Education must meet the following requirements: click here

Additional information

Applicants must:

  • Be physically and medically able to efficiently perform the essential job functions, without being a direct threat to themselves and others.
  • Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level.
  • Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climbing stairs and ladders.
  • Be able to lift, carry, push and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds.
  • Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers with a normal sense of touch in both hands.
  • Have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease and have correctable vision of at least 20/40 in one eye.
  • Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (more than 25 percent error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying.
  • Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

Review our 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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement. Only those highly rated by the subject matter experts will be referred to the selecting official. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the preliminary resume and education (if applicable) reviewrequired for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Accountability
  • Decision Making
  • Oral Communication
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Technical Competence (Veterinary)
  • Written Communication
In addition to the online questionnaire, applicants for this position will be evaluated by one or more subject matter experts. If a panel is conducted, subject matter experts may review your resume and other application materials to determine your qualifications and assign a rating based on the required competencies. Please ensure that your resume does not simply list job duties, but also highlights accomplishments that demonstrate possession of the required competencies.

Preference will be applied to applicants who move forward after the pre-certificate evaluation. 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.

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and assessment questionnaire, this position requires a preliminary resume and education review to evaluate competencies and education required to perform the job.

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.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12815091

Required Documents

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.

If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of all relevant 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.
Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP 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.

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 11:59p.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 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below 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. Resumes must not exceed two pages.

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

Alternative Methods for Applying: If you are unable to apply using the internet, please fax your request for an application package along with your name and mailing address to HR: 1-833-840-9219.

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

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. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.

Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Agency contact information

Paul Soma
Address
Food Safety and Inspection Service
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
US

Next steps

Once you successfully complete the application process, you will receive a notification of receipt. Your application package will be reviewed to ensure you meet the basic eligibility requirements. The resumes and transcripts for all eligible applicants will be reviewed to determine if you are among the most highly qualified for the position. If you are found to be one of the top applicants, a further review may be completed of your online questionnaire and the documentation you submitted to support your responses and you will receive a notification of results. Applicants that are found among the most highly qualified may be referred to the hiring official for consideration, and you will receive a notification of referral. The selecting official may choose to conduct interviews, and as part of the selection process, applicants may be required to complete additional supplemental documents. Once the selection is made, you will receive a notification of the decision. If interviews are conducted, Behavioral Event Interviews BEI will be used. Be sure to log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.

Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to fsis.fca@usda.gov, subject line: Fair Chance Act.


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


© 2006-2025, exclusive of U. S. government job opportunity announcements