Supervisory Plant Protection and Quarantine Officer

As a Supervisory Plant Protection and Quarantine Officer, you serve in a vital role protecting the health, welfare and agricultural economy of the United States of America and to facilitate agricultural exports. You will supervise a staff of professional employees (e.g., Officers), administrative and a substantial, fluctuating work force of permanent and temporary technical/aid level employees in the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) and Domestic programs.

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National

The duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Implements regulatory, treatment, and/or inspection programs in order to facilitate exports of agricultural products.
• Plans and manages the technical approach for inspections, treatments, survey/eradication programs, and quarantine applications.
• Plans and organizes the work and training of subordinate employees; administers overtime; approves leave of subordinate employees.
• Prepares annual budget within given allocations ensuring supplies, equipment, and facilities are sufficient for program needs.
• Evaluates and reviews the work of the subordinates and formulates work accomplishment reports.
• Determines when additional staffing is required; initiates recruitment requests, conducts interviews, and makes selections.
• Conducts program assessments and develops long-range work plans at local levels.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

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

FOR THE GS-11 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-9 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:

• Planning, organizing and providing expert support of import, export, survey and/or regulatory quarantine work for a plant pest and disease program. Prioritizes and monitors the progress of work, including adherence with applicable policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Providing general direction, guidance, feedback and coaching to co-workers.
• Planning and organizing work due to staffing fluctuations and changing circumstances.
• Analyzing, identifying and addressing potentially adverse operational issues at the lowest level, before they surface as major problems requiring greater intervention/escalation.
• Communicating complex issues, directions, guidance, and feedback. Applying political savvy to communicate both verbally and in writing with quarantine program employees and cooperators in local, state and other federal agencies.

OR 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

This is a Direct-Hire Authority position, all applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, to include any specialized experience and/or selective placement factor(s), if applicable, will be referred to the selecting official. Before a certificate is issued to the selecting official, your application is reviewed to ensure that you meet all the qualification requirements. A rating will not be used; veteran's preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, 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 preview the application questionnaire, please visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12510857

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 in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.

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

Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application.

Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement).

Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue.