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This position is located in the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, in Beltsville, MD.
The incumbent will work with supervisor and a wide array of scientists on research and service-oriented projects to support ex situ and in situ conservation of plant genetic resources.
02/01/2021 to 02/16/2021
$87,198 - $134,798 per year
GS 12 - 13
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
No
Permanent
Full-Time
Competitive
14
No
No
ARS-S21Y-11010735-SC
590967900
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
U.S. citizens and nationals; No prior federal experience is required.
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 Requirements:
Degree: botany; or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany.
OR
Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in botany or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
For positions dealing with the study of fungi, or with basic mycological relationships, the course work in botany must have included at least 6 semester hours in mycology.
Evaluation of Education: Courses in basic botany, plant anatomy or morphology, cytology, histology, genetics, taxonomy or systematics, algology, mycology, ethnobotany, and those dealing with specific problems of a botanical nature or with specific groups of plants are qualifying. The courses required for mycologists are specific and must have been in mycology.
AND
Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are:
At The GS-12:
Qualifying experience for GS-12 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-11 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 experience: Collecting plant germplasm in a field environment; develop reports on plant genetic resources; and working with internal and external stakeholders related to plant germplasm research.
At The GS-13:
Qualifying experience for GS-13 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-12 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 experience: Leading and developing projects to collect plant germplasm in a field environment; publishing research findings on plant genetic resources or plant germplasm; working with internal and external stakeholders related to plant germplasm research; and presenting research findings.
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.
Physical Demands:The work is a combination of sedentary office work and physically demanding field work. In the office, some degree of manual dexterity needed for routine keyboard entry and updating of data, and periods of light physical exertion such as standing and carrying heavy books are required. Field work is required and often extremely rigorous for plant explorations in the U.S. or other countries, or to evaluate sites for in situ conservation. The work requires travel to remote locations (both U.S. or foreign countries), long hikes in inclement weather over rough terrain, and exposure to parasites and pathogens.
Work Environment:The work is performed mostly in an office environment, but up to several weeks a year may be spent working on field projects outdoors in the U.S. and/ or foreign countries.
Please see above for education qualification requirement information.
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.
The incumbent will use scientific methods to establish priorities and opportunities for PGR conservation, enacting cooperative agreements or other appropriate funding mechanisms between the ARS and collaborators to support approved projects, and advising participants and collaborators on technical matters related to germplasm collection and exchange.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures and USDA policy using category rating. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. Category placement will be determined based on applicants' quality of experience and the extent they possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or competencies:
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
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.
To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: If a document is resubmitted, it replaces the previous submission, which means the previous document is no longer available to the Human Resources Office. If you are adding to, rather than replacing a previous submission, you must upload both the old document and the new document. You must verify that uploaded documents 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. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g. SF-50s or veteran docs) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS to check your application status. We expect to make a final job offer approximately 40 days after the deadline for applications.
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/590967900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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