Duties

Summary

This position's work schedule will occur at irregular intervals and is not continuous or steady. As an Intermittent Food Inspector applicant, please review the conditions of employment carefully.

DUTY LOCATION: Smithfield, VA
Plant Name: Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp. (M221A)
Address:601 N. Church Street Smithfield, VA 23430
Species:Hog

Salary:
GS-5: $16.30 - $21.19 per hour
GS-7: $20.19 - $26.25 per hour
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Entry-level Food Inspector positions filled through this announcement generally work in slaughter plants. Our Food Inspectors:
• Examine food animals in privately-owned meat or poultry plants.
• Perform their duties before and after slaughter, guaranteeing that the product is not contaminated.
• Maintain sanitation procedures.
• Are a valued member of a dynamic team that ensures the product is fit to eat and compliant with Federal laws.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
7

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Successful completion of a pre-employment medical examination.
• Selectee must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust security clearance. If selected you may be subject to a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI).
• Selectee may be subject to satisfactory completion of a one year probationary or trial period.
• Must be at least 16 years of age.
• Be available for on-call work as needed.
• Be available for all shifts and able to report for duty within 1 hour after receiving a request (by phone).
• Provide coverage for in-plant positions within a specified geographic area or plant.
• The number of hours you may work is limited to 1,280 hours in a service year.
• This position is an Excepted Service appointment and doesn't provide benefits.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.

Qualifications

The duties of a Food Inspector are performed in a hazardous working environment. To experience what it's like to work in a slaughter plant as a Food Inspector, please click here . For additional information about training, please click here . The below requirements are not an all-inclusive list.

Applicants must:

• Be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the job functions, without hazard to themselves and others.
• Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level.
• Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climbing stairs and ladders.
• Be able to lift, carry, push and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds.
• Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers with a normal sense of touch in both hands.
• Must have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease and have correctable vision of at least 20/30 in one eye.
• Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (25 percent or more error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying.
• Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case by case basis.

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

For the GS-5 level: Applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience that was obtained after your 16th birthday. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the applicant's knowledge, judgment, interpretive ability, and technical skill associated with the production of a finished product which meets all prescribed standards of quality and confirms with approved production methods. Such experience may have been gained in the following:

• Experience in a slaughter or processing plant, or a comparable manufacturing or production activity which prepares food for human consumption. This experience must demonstrate skills in sorting good from bad; applying, interpreting, and explaining standards, making decisions, and communicating with others.
• Experience as a meat cutter/butcher in a wholesale or retail meat/poultry business, provided a full range of responsible duties are performed such as cutting or butchering, sanitation, dealing with customers, meeting customer standards, use of judgment, interpretation or various requirements, and sorting acceptable from unacceptable.
• Performing Quality Control tests and/or laboratory tests in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical or pet food industry or other similar environments, assuring that standards are met with products that are consumed by humans or animals. An example of qualifying experience may be a Veterinary Technician conducting lab tests, assessing animals and/or partial examination of animals, performing necropsies, monitoring animals under anesthesia and administering medications.
• Supervisory responsibilities in the food or livestock industry, which demonstrates the applicant applied and has effective skills in communicating job requirements, evaluating results of work methods or processes, applying instructions, and interpreting standards or regulations. Responsibility for management or supervision of a full scale commercial or industrial livestock or poultry enterprise.
• Commercial restaurant or kitchen chef or cook responsible for proper food preparation, safe food handling and sanitation practices and judgment recognizing abnormalities in food.

OR

Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in an accredited college or university that included at least 12 semester hours in biological, physical, mathematical, or agricultural sciences. If you are qualifying based on education, you must submit a copy of your transcripts when you apply; failure to do so will result in an ineligible rating. If you are selected for a position, official transcripts must be sent directly from your college, in paper form in a sealed envelope or in a secure, certified official electronic format to our Minneapolis Human Resource Operations Division prior to reporting for duty.

Note: Education is not creditable for positions above the GS-5 level.

For the GS-7 level: For positions above GS-5, applicants must have demonstrated one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression in the organization in which the position is being filled.

Specialized experience is regulatory food inspection work which involved either ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection of red meat animals, poultry, fish, or seafood; or inspection of production of processed products involving red meat, poultry, fish, seafood, or egg products.

This experience must have demonstrated:

• Knowledge of general sanitation practices, laws, and regulations governing the food industry.
• Knowledge of Federal laws and regulations pertaining to fitness of red meat animals, poultry, fish, or seafood for human consumption; or knowledge of Federal laws and regulations applicable to the processing of red meat, poultry, fish, seafood, or egg products; and
• Ability to communicate effectively with supervisors and workers in the food industry.

The resume you provide must demonstrate the required experience as referenced in the announcement or you will be rated as ineligible for GS-7.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here .

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, knowledge, and skills 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

See above, there is no education substitution for GS-7.

Additional information

• This position does not have a regularly schedule tour of duty. The number of hours worked during one week may fluctuate between 1 to 40 hours and there will be no consistency in the days or hours worked each week.
• This announcement may be used to fill additional like vacancies should any occur in the announced duty location(s).
• Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployed Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) : 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 applications must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 every Federal employee is required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of that employee's choosing.
• E-Verify: Federal law requires agencies to use the E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility for all new hires. If you are selected as a newly hired employee, the documentation you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 on your entry-on-duty date will be verified through the DHS E-VERIFY system. Under the system, the new hire is required to resolve any identified discrepancies as a condition of continued employment.
• If you are selected, you may need to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) prior to being appointed to determine suitability for federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. False statements or responses on a resume or application can jeopardize employment and may be grounds for disciplinary action, including removal from federal service.
• Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact: USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
• It is the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. See more information at: CHCO Council.
• Veterans Policy

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Applications will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the specialized experience/education requirements.

Applicants will not be ranked in category or score order. All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official after applying absolute veterans preference.

All answers provided in the online process must be substantiated by a resume and/or college transcripts. If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration.

**REMINDER** Applicants - Be sure that experience/education as described on your resume contains accurate and sufficiently detailed information to clearly demonstrate that you have the listed specialized experience/education requirements. All information used to evaluate your application must be received by the closing date of the announcement. Once the position is closed, no additional information will be accepted.

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" button to the right.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10596570

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

- Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the major duties, including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; and title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.

- If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college, or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit http://www.naces.org/members.htm . All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

- If claiming veterans preference, you must submit a DD-214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty, you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veterans preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veterans preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) you submitted.

- If claiming 10-point veterans preference, you must provide the DD-214 or certification requirements (see above), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans preference see http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref .

- Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP must provide: Proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

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. veteran's preference) 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.

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. Please verify that documents you are uploading 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. Uploaded resumes must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX).

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

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.