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The incumbent serves as a Research Geneticist/Plant Pathologist/Molecular Biologist for the ARS Cereal Disease Research Unit located in St. Paul, MN. The incumbent leads investigations into fungal genetics, genomics, cellular and molecular biology and /or evolution of Fusarium species with the long-term goal of developing new approaches for disease control, such as selecting and identifying durable resistance based in the fundamental knowledge of the host-parasite interaction.
09/29/2021 to 10/29/2021
$83,309 - $128,785 per year
GS 12 - 13
1 vacancy in the following location:
No
Occasional travel - Occasional domestic and international travel is required to attend scientific meetings and conferences.
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Permanent
Full-time
Competitive
15
No
No
ARS-D21MWA-11249154-JML
615803300
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Minimum qualification requirements are found in the OPM Qualification Standards Operating Manual for General Schedule Positions.Qualification requirements must be identified for each grade level advertised.
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
Genetics Series, 0440
Individual Occupational Requirements
Degree: genetics; or one of the basic biological sciences that included at least 9 semester hours in genetics.
Graduate Education: Genetics, or a curriculum or pattern of training that placed major emphasis on genetics. Graduate study in related fields such as agronomy, horticulture, animal, dairy, or poultry husbandry, entomology, microbiology, plant pathology, chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and physiology that involved cross-training in genetics is qualifying, provided it placed sufficient emphasis on genetics.
Plant Pathology Series, 0434
Individual Occupational Requirements
Degree: plant pathology; or a related scientific discipline that included at least 20 semester hours in basic botany or plant science, and 10 semester hours in plant pathology.
Graduate Education: must have been in plant pathology, or in one of the recognized subject-matter fields of plant pathology, or have followed a curriculum or pattern of training that placed major emphasis on plant pathology or one of the recognized subject-matter fields of plant pathology, such as those dealing with particular types of pathogens, diseases of particular kinds of crops, or chemical or biological controls. Graduate study in related fields such as microbiology, entomology, plant physiology, genetics, agronomy, horticulture, forestry, or chemistry may also be qualifying, provided it placed sufficient emphasis on plant pathology.
General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series, 0401
Individual Occupational Requirements
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 in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Additional Requirements
In addition to meeting the basic requirements described above, applicants must also meet additional qualification requirements as stated below.
GS-12: Applicants must demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the
Federal service or possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or possess an equivalent combination of graduate level education and
experience. Graduate education must be directly related to the work of the position and must have equipped applicants with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-12 level of this position are:
- Conducting research related to the cell biology, genomics, evolution, population genetics, toxigenesis, or molecular host-parasite interactions of pathogenic fungal species; and
- Experience acquiring, analyzing, and integrating large biological datasets (genomic, phenomic, etc.) to understand processes associated with fungal parasitism and plant disease resistance; and/or
- Experience with cell biology-based approaches to characterize processes involved in fungal aggressiveness and plant disease resistance; and
- Publishing research results related to the genetics and/or molecular biology of fungal pathogens, and
- Presenting research findings at scientific meetings.
GS-13: Applicants must demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the
Federal service. Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-13 level of this position are:
- Planning and conducting research related to the genomics, evolution, population genetics, toxigenesis, or molecular host-parasite interactions of pathogenic fungal species; and
- Publishing peer-reviewed research findings related to fungal genetics/biology as first or corresponding author; and
- Presenting research findings at national and/or international scientific meetings; and
- Experience in supervising undergraduate and graduate students or technicians to accomplish research.
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.
Applicants must be available to report for duty at the time a selection is made. Selections are typically made within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.
Please see above for education qualification requirement information.
This position requires the selectee to undergo a pre-employment check and a full background investigation. Any offer made is considered a tentative job offer pending the outcome of the pre-employment check. Retention in the position is based upon a favorable adjudication of the background investigation. The incumbent will be subject to periodic reinvestigations.
CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT: Federal employees are subject to prohibitions against officially dealing with outside organizations in which they have a financial interest. If hired for this position, you may be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of the effective date of your appointment and annually thereafter.
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 71 out of a possible 100.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
You will be evaluated in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. Eligible applicants will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Applicants with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.
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.
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/615803300. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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Research scientists have open-ended promotion potential. Research accomplishments and their impact on the duties and responsibilities of positions are evaluated periodically. The grade level is limited only by the individual's demonstrated ability to perform research of recognized importance to science and technology. *Final grade level may be determined by a peer review panel.
