Supervisory Microbiologist

Summary

This position is located at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Services (ARS), The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), located in Manhattan, Kansas. The mission is to provide leadership, subject-matter expertise, quality maintenance, and operational support in implementing biosafety, biosecurity, training and written instructions to safely operate the complex, critical laboratory infrastructure and support the execution of science research.

Duties

• Applies expertise of high and maximum containment operations, biosafety, and biosecurity to develop, manage, and implement the Biorisk Management Unit max and high containment operations program.
• Coordinates operations related to critical containment and decontamination systems including routine validation of sterilization programs and incident response for autoclaves, thermal tissues autoclaves, and effluent decontamination systems.
• Performs risk assessments, incident investigations, root cause analysis, and develops new and updates high and maximum containment Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other documents for the facility.
• Serves as a recognized expert in the field of high and maximum containment operations, providing consultation and advice to international, Federal, State, and local agencies.

Requirements

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. 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period unless previous federal service is creditable. During this time your employment will be evaluated, and we may consider: your performance and conduct, the needs and interests of the agency, whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government, and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period. Supervisory Responsibilities (EEO Statement). Motor Vehicle or Commercial Driver's License Required. Drug Test Required. Special Physical Requirements/Demands. SAC and limited background investigation required for Research Leader positions. Other: Department of Justice (DOJ) Security Risk Assessment (SRA) approval is required. Tier 3 clearance required for positions working with BSL-3 (or higher) agents, or in BSL3/BSL-4 facilities. Select Agent. Other: Participation in Occupational Medical Surveillance Program. 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. In addition to meeting the basic education requirement in the Education Section below, all applicants must also meet the following minimum qualification requirements: 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: Qualifying experience for GS-14 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-13 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 the experience implementing a BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment operations program; performing validation activities related to autoclaves, thermal tissue autoclaves, effluent decontamination systems, gamma irradiation, Vaporized hydrogen peroxide or Chlorine dioxide gas decontamination, performing risk assessments and incident investigations. 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

Basic Requirements: A. Degree: microbiology; or biology, chemistry, or basic medical science that included at least 20 semester hours in microbiology and other subjects related to the study of microorganisms, and 20 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences combining course work in organic chemistry or biochemistry, physics, and college algebra, or their equivalent. OR B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in microbiology, virology, biology, genetics, biochemistry, chemistry, or basic medical science that included courses as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Graduate Education: Microbiology, or specific area of study such as bacteriology, virology, mycology, algology, protozoology, parasitology, immunology, serology, microbial genetics, or soil microbiology; or specific applied fields of microbiology such as clinical and public health microbiology, food technology, production processes, industrial fermentation, pollution, etc. Graduate study in related fields such as experimental pathology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, biochemistry, animal or plant physiology, genetics, plant pathology, and insect disease control, may also be pertinent, provided it has direct application to microbiological work. Evaluation of Education: Microbiology is a broad field of science encompassing a number of scientific disciplines or areas of science, the fields in which this science is applied, and related fields where the work is concerned with or involves microbiology. The scientific disciplines or areas of this science include bacteriology, immunology, serology, algology, mycology, parasitology, protozoology, rickettsiology, tissue culture, virology, and similar disciplines or areas of science. The applied fields include environmental, food, dairy, soil, industrial, public health, clinical, and agricultural microbiology, and similar areas in which microbiology is applied. Related fields include taxonomy and systematics, plant, animal, or human physiology or pathology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, ecology, and similar areas of science where the work is directly related or applies to microbiology. Except where the course work deals with a limited and specific segment of the science, where it might be limited in usefulness, most of the work, including that dealing with the development and use of microbiological methods, procedures, and techniques, is qualifying. In interpreting the substantive value of the course work, credit may be given for courses in related fields, depending on the degree to which the courses are related to micro-biological work. Evaluation of Experience: For positions at GS-9 that involve a substantial amount of work in a specific specialized area or applied field of microbiology, at least 6 months of the experience must either have been in the appropriate area of specialization or applied field of microbiology, or have direct application in the area for which the applicant is being considered. For the GS-11 and higher grade levels of such specialized positions, the experience must have been sufficiently specialized to insure adequate familiarity with the area of specialization or applied field of microbiology or have direct application in the area for which the applicant is being considered. Alternate requirement: For GS-14 clinical and public health microbiology positions, certification by the American Board of Medical Microbiology/American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology, or election to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology fully meets the experience requirement for such positions. How You Will Be Evaluated

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures and USDA policy. This means you will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of two or 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: Accountability Customer Service Decisiveness Flexibility Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving Resilience Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13080302 Other 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here. This is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). Selectee must submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and random testing thereafter. Final appointment and continued employment is conditional on negative results for illegal drug use. This position is being concurrently announced under Merit Promotion Announcement Number ARS-M27Y-13080312-KW. Current or former Federal employees or other eligible applicants may apply to both announcements to expand all possibilities of consideration since different referral criteria apply to each type of announcement. See the above announcement for more information. Recruitment or Relocation Incentive may be authorized. The final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official. 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.