Duties

• Makes recommendations for the content, scope and priorities for national ARS programs in post-harvest quality and new uses of fruits, vegetables, grains, agricultural fibers, and bioprocessing sciences.
• Directs the various programs to provide a national focus on food/fiber quality and processing/bioprocessing.
• Examines programs in assigned area and makes recommendations aimed at achieving program balance and an allocation of resources consistent with scientific criteria and Federal policies.
• Plans and carries out national workshops and conferences for scientist from ARS, universities, private industry, and research organizations to discuss emerging research needs and their relationship to the ARS planning process.
• Identifies need for and arranges and/or leads field program reviews to assess, validate, and schedule program shifts targeted in implementation and operational plans.
• Serves as the Agency's technical expert for the assigned area and advises ARS administrators on related technical and policy issues.

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.
• 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 E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/

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 REQUIREMENTS:

0435 Series - Basic Requirements: Degree: Botany or plant physiology; or a related scientific discipline that included at least 10 semester hours in plant physiology.

0890 Series - Basic Requirements: Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:
· Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
· Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
· Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that include the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
· Related curriculum-- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

1320 Series - Basic Requirements: Degree: Physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physical.

OR

Combination of education and experience - course work equivalent to a major as shown above, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

1382 Series - Basic Requirements - Degree: Food Technology, or dairy technology, microbiology, biology, chemistry, physics, or a related discipline or field of biological or physical science. The course work must have been comprised of at least 30 semester hours in the basic biological and physical sciences and included at least 20 semester hours in food technology and closely related subjects, or 20 semester hours in subjects that can be applied to directly to food technology.

OR

Combination of education and experience - courses equivalent to a major, including the course work specified above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

AND

In addition to meeting one of the basic requirements above, applicants must also meet the specialized experience requirements:
Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. The specialized experience requirements for this position are:

GS-15: One year of specialized experience comparable to GS-14 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 developing and executing a research program in Nutrition, Food Safety, and Quality or related field; advising on technical and policy issues for a research program; and a record of publishing biomedical research in professional peer-reviewed publications related to post-harvest quality and new uses of fruits, vegetables, grains, agricultural fibers, and bioprocessing or health.

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

Please see above for education qualification requirement information. You must submit a copy of your college transcripts.

Class titles on transcripts must be fully descriptive and, if not, applicants should provide additional information as to the content of the class as it relates to the required educational requirements.

Additional 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 based on an evaluation of the following competencies: Leadership, Planning and Evaluating, Research, and Technical Competence. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job.

Recruitment or Relocation Incentive may be authorized. Final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official at time of job offer.
Selections made under this authority will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given a new appointment to the civil service.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.