An official website of the United States government
11/16/2018 to 12/21/2018
$103,106 - $157,663 per year
GS 14 - 15
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Travel is required to attend scientific meetings and conferences, training and leadership meetings
Yes—Relocation expenses may be authorized and will be determined at time of offer.
Permanent
Full-Time
Competitive
15
Yes
No
ARS-D19MWA-0024
517160300
SUMMARY
The USDA, ARS, Midwest Area is seeking a Supervisory Research Plant Physiologist to serve as Research Leader of the Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit (PRU) located in Urbana, IL at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The vision of the Unit is to furnish genetic, genomic, and bioinformatic tools, information, and genetic resources to enhance American agricultural productivity and ensure a high quality, safe supply of food, fiber, feed, ornamentals, and industrial products.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The incumbent leads, directs, and conducts personal and team research that addresses national research needs for increased productivity of crop plants, especially in the context of global climate and environmental uncertainty and improved weed management systems. Will also conduct research on the efficiency and productivity of photosynthesis in crop plants.
Specific personal research objectives may include:
Supervisory duties may include:
OTHER POSITION INFORMATION
Travel is required to attend scientific meetings and conferences, training, and leadership meetings.
Confidential financial disclosure required.
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 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.
To be considered for a research scientist position, you must submit a one-page abstract of your MS thesis and/or Ph.D. dissertation. Also, submit a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons familiar with your stature, contributions, recognition; any honors or awards received; memberships in professional or honor societies; invitations to make presentations at scientific/technical meetings; scientific society office and committee assignments; presentations (other than invitation); and publications.
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of the announcement including the following specialized experience and/or education, as identified by grade level.
Your education and experience will be evaluated against all qualification requirements (basic and any additional requirements) listed below.
Graduate education must be directly related to the work of the position and must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
Basic Requirements:
Degree: botany or plant physiology; or a related scientific discipline that included at least 10 semester hours in plant physiology.
Additional Requirements: Applicants must meet the basic requirements as shown above as well as the specialized experience requirements shown below to qualify for the GS-14 or GS-15 grade levels.
GS-14: Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience (defined below) equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the Federal Service.
* Planning and conducting independent research related to increased productivity of crop plants.
* Managing personnel, materials, equipment, resources, and facilities needed to accomplish research goals.
* Presenting research results related to increased productivity of crop plants to professional societies and others outside of organization.
* Publishing independent research results related to increased productivity of crop plants in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
GS-15: Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience (defined below) equivalent to at least the GS-14 grade level in the Federal Service.
* Leading a team conducting collaborative research related to increased productivity of crop plants.
* Managing personnel, materials, equipment, resources, and facilities needed to accomplish research goals.
* Publishing independent research results related to increased productivity of crop plants in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Applicants must address the specialized experience requirements in their resume (or application documents). Applications that do not reflect the specialized experience requirements will not be deemed qualified.
Supervisory/Managerial Competencies - the following KSAs will also be used to evaluate candidates in the interview and selection process:
1. Ability to lead and accomplish work through others (i.e. team building, conflict management, cultural awareness, strategic thinking, technology management, and political savvy.)
2. Ability to communicate with individuals or groups from diverse backgrounds in a variety of situations.
For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here:
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.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. 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.
Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply Online" button to the right.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
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 Online" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g., all SF-50s) 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 account at https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login 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/517160300. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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