Summary

This position is located in the USDA, Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). OPMP's mission is to: 1) integrate and coordinate the pest management efforts of the Department; 2) provide data and analyses to EPA to better inform pesticide regulatory decisions; and 3) provide a Departmental focal point for farmers, grower organizations, EPA, and State Land Grant institutions regarding pesticide and pest management issues.

Duties

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• Represents OPMP and USDA at events related to weed management and herbicides. Participates in expert panels, makes presentations, leads workshops, and participates as appropriate at national and international meetings.
• Serves as an authoritative source and nationally recognized expert in agronomy and the assessment of weed management practices and risk/benefit evaluations for herbicide registration and review.
• Serves as an herbicide-focused agronomist and provides scientific and technical guidance based on knowledge about FQPA, FIFRA, and FFDCA and crop production practices, particularly related to weed management practices
• Independently identifies developments in science policy issues and/or pesticide regulatory decisions that have implications for agriculture, including implications of international pesticide-related activities.
• Writes scientific documents for internal/external purposes on risk assessment, the environment, agronomic management practices, integrated pest control measures, and regulatory impacts of decisions.
• Uses a variety of analytical methods and techniques to assess a wide range of scientific, legal, and risk issues related to pest management and pesticides.
• Develops and coordinates the sharing of information scientific advice within OPMP and providing coordination/guidance to agronomists across the Department on herbicide and weed management issues as needed.
• As a subject matter expert, represents OPMP and USDA on various agronomy-related committees. Provides independent scientific and regulatory advice on weed management and herbicide issues to USDA agencies.
• Independently plans and coordinates environmental evaluations and risk assessments involving complex crop production systems, including specialty crops, and large ecological systems.
• Provides unifying expertise in interpreting science and advanced risk assessment techniques on high-level multi-disciplinary teams, including identifying novel risk assessment methods for herbicides, as appropriate.
• Provides scientific briefings orally or in writing for senior officials. As needed, aids in assessing risks associated with chemical, biological, physical hazards, and other threats to agriculture and the food supply.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with agency officials, other government officials, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, university personnel, industry representatives, grower groups, etc.
• Coordinates scientific activities with other major program offices at USDA and EPA.
• Serves as a liaison with EPA, USDA staff, and Land Grant and industry scientists involved in risk assessment and decision making related to pest management/pesticides to ensure assessment of technology is characterized correctly.
• Presents results of analyses to USDA, regulatory agencies, and stakeholders, and prepares plans to mitigate the biological and economic impacts of proposed pesticide and pest management regulatory decisions.

Requirements

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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.
• If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type. Additional information is in Next Steps section.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.

Qualifications

To be considered minimally qualified fort this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying.

Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Time in grade:

Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirements AND Minimum Qualification requirements as listed below.

BASIC REQUIRMENTS:

1. Degree: agronomy; or related discipline of science that included at least 30 semester hours of course work in the basic plant sciences, including at least 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, such as those dealing with plant breeding, crop production, and soil and crop management.

OR

1. Combination of education and experience: at least 30 semester hours in the basic plant sciences, including a minimum of 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, as shown in 1 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Evaluation of Education: Course work in such subjects as botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant breeding or genetics, plant ecology, plant pathology, microbiology, agronomy, or those dealing with basic soil-water-plant relationships of an agronomic or ecologic nature may be used to meet the 30-semester-hour requirement in the basic plant sciences. Agronomy courses include agronomy, fieldcrops, field crop production or management, soil and crop management, plant breeding and development, weed control, and similar courses, including those in soils, biochemistry, plant physiology, etc., provided they dealt with principles, methods, or procedures that are applied directly in agronomic work and in the solving of agronomic problems.

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS ABOVE, YOU MUST ALSO MEET THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

SPECIALIZED EXPRIENCE: At the GS-15, Qualifying experience for GS-15 includes 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 professional experience in pesticide risk assessment, including independently providing authoritative inputs into herbicide risk management decisions; recognized expertise in crop production practices, ecological protection requirements (e.g., ESA, etc.), and emerging science and policy issues related to herbicides; familiarity with State Lead Agency (SLA) processes and perspectives; experience leading multi-disciplinary teams on nationally-relevant herbicide issues; experience identifying and proposing novel regulatory alternatives for pest management policy decisions, including for highly-complex cases; and communicating with policy analysts, officials, leadership, interagency partners, and general audiences about pesticide regulatory considerations.

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

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualified for this position by substituting education or training for experience, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted that include your name, of the educational institution, course title(s), number of credits, grade, and date of completion. An official transcript will be required if selected.

Education must be from an accredited 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 degree from schools accredited by accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Foreign Education: Education completed in a foreign colleges or university may be used to meet the qualification requirements. You must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application.

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 (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.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information.

Incentives may be authorized.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.