This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/474745700. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
The Senior Executive Service (SES) is comprised of the men and women charged with leading the continuing transformation of the government. These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective of government and a public service commitment which is grounded in the Constitution.
Position Level 1
This position is designed as a SES, Career-Reserved or General. USDA structures its SES positions into position levels. This is a position level two with a salary range of $161,901 - $165,715 per year. Exceptions to the salary cap may be considered in certain circumstances. SES employees are also eligible to receive bonuses and performance-based awards. Visit http://www.opm.gov/ses/ for additional information and benefits for SES employees.
If you would like to work for a premier agency focused on enhancing the quality of life for the American people by supporting production of agriculture; ensuring safe, affordable, nutritious and accessible food supply; forest and range lands; supporting sound development of rural communities; providing economic opportunities for farm and rural residents; expanding global markets for agricultural and forest products and services; and working to reduce hunger in America and throughout the world, then the USDA is for you. To learn more about our agency, our exciting mission, vision and guiding principles, please visit http://www.usda.gov.
Learn more about this agency07/18/2017 to 08/16/2017
$161,901 - $165,715 per year
ES 00
1 vacancy in the following location:
Occasional travel - 25% travel at Agency's discretion
Yes—At Agency's discretion
Permanent
Full-Time
00
0401 General Natural Resources Management And Biological Sciences
Yes
ARS-SES-2017-0032-BT
474745700
The incumbent serves as Associate Director, Plains Area which includes the States of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. As Associate Area Director, the incumbent participates fully with the Area Director in planning, coordinating and evaluating overall research programs and provides leadership and operational accountability within the Area for the programs and activities including planning, directing and evaluating research programs designed and executed with a view toward Federal-State missions and goals for a national program of agricultural research, and the coordination and integration of the research with other Federal agencies, Land-grant organizations, and other outside institutions.
Serves in a fully participating leadership role for the planning and program development of the overall research missions, goals, and policies for the Area. This involves the interpretation and adaptation of broad program and policy objectives, and a wide variety of difficult and important decisions regarding program capabilities in relation to resource availability.
Provides for an organized, programmed approach for systematic, goal- related program reviews with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of program operations in terms of long and short range objectives and time schedules, utilization of resources qualitative research output, and other related considerations.
Keeps the Area Director, the Administrator and staff, and other officials fully informed of program related considerations having significant bearing upon the planning, development, and administration of research programs. Identifies new problem areas acquiring attention and recommends approach to be taken, i. e., in-house, extramural, cooperative endeavor, or regional multidisciplinary attack.
Recommends curtailment of unproductive research programs or approaches.
Participates with the Area Director, the Administrator and staff, and other research program leaders in developing criteria for budgetary priorities and projections; provides leadership in developing and coordinating program research projections; evaluates and consolidates budgetary requests, and recommends and supports such requests.
Shares responsibility with the Area Director for management of all PA location, and efficient use of resources (funds, personnel and property) assigned to research programs.
Develops and directs programs of multidisciplinary research through national program leaders, and provides continuing vigilance over the application of policies and procedures concerned with the selection, development, and utilization of the scientific staff and associated support personnel.
This position requires up to 25% travel.
Entrance on duty is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment security investigation. The position requires Top Secret security clearance or be subject to a Public Trust background investigation at the time of appointment, and may be subject to reinvestigation every five years thereafter. A favorable adjudication of the clearance or background investigation at the time of appointment and on reinvestigations is a condition of employment.
As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior executive level managerial capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualifications.
Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-15 grade level in the Federal service, or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or non- governmental organizations. Your resume needs to emphasize your level of responsibilities, the scope and complexity of programs managed, and your program accomplishments, including the results of your actions.
Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified.
OR
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND FINGERPRINT CHECK: Selection and retention in this position is contingent on a successfully adjudicated FBI National Criminal History Check (fingerprint check) and a background investigation.
• Relocation expenses are authorized.
• This position is eligible for telework and other flexible work arrangements.
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
• E-Verify: Federal law requires agencies to use the E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of 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.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): Please Note: Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates who have been certified by OPM do NOT need to address the ECQs.
ECQ 1 - LEADING CHANGE: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. Leadership Competencies: Creativity and Innovation, External Awareness, Flexibility, Resilience, Strategic Thinking and Vision
ECQ 2 - LEADING PEOPLE: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organizations vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. Leadership Competencies: Conflict Management, Leveraging Diversity, Developing Others and Team Building
ECQ 3 - RESULTS DRIVEN: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. Leadership Competencies: Accountability, Customer, Decisiveness, Entrepreneurship, Problem Solving, and Technical Credibility
ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Leadership Competencies: Financial Management, Human Capital Management and Technology Management
ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. Leadership Competencies: Partnering, Political Savvy and Influencing/Negotiating Responses to the Mandatory Technical Qualifications Submit a Supplemental Narrative Statement which addresses EACH of the Mandatory Technical Qualifications individually. Your narrative responses must not exceed two (2) pages using 1 inch margins and a 12 point font per Technical Qualification.
1. Describe your executive level leadership & management experience which demonstrates your knowledge of research methodology and reporting of findings related to agricultural & biological sciences, natural resources & environmental sciences, and agricultural engineering and how that experience demonstrates your ability to oversee and coordinate a broad portfolio of complex research projects.
2. Describe your executive level leadership & management experience which demonstrates your knowledge and ability to interact with a wide range of individuals to develop and coordinate cooperative research and development programs with Federal, State and Private Industry partners that address important agricultural and related scientific needs.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS :
Candidates who do not submit complete application packages as indicated in this announcement will not be considered. Please be sure to remove all PII (e.g. SSN, DOB, etc.) from all documentation. Spell out Acronyms the first time used.
Applicants who cannot apply on-line may mail their applications (must be postmarked prior to the close date) or fax your application before the close date to the Agency Contact listed in the vacancy announcement.
CRITICAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND REMINDERS :
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.
You must complete the application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Assistance is available during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday - Friday). Applying online is highly encouraged. If applying online poses a hardship, please contact our office well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship hard-copy application packages with supporting documents must be received no later than noon 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. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process. You can apply for this position via on-line submission. Your online application must include the following documents: A complete application package will require the submission of:
Resume: Your resume must include all of the information listed below. Vacancy announcement number Full name, mailing and email addresses, day and evening telephone numbers Country of citizenship Information about your paid and nonpaid work experience related to this position including; job title, duties and accomplishments , employers name and address, supervisor name and phone number, duration of employment, and salary and hrs. per week. Information about honors, awards, and special accomplishments
Responses to the Executive Core Qualifications: Submit a Supplemental Applicant Statement which addresses EACH of the ECQs separately. Please include your name and the vacancy announcement number on each page of the supplemental applicant statement. The purpose of this statement is to provide you, as an applicant, the opportunity to elaborate on your experience, training, and specifically, significant achievements which relates to the ECQs being used to identify the best qualified candidates for this vacancy. DO NOT simply repeat entries from other parts of your application package. Please provide complete responses to the executive core qualifications. The total length of your ECQ statements must not exceed 10 pages (no more than 2 pages per ECQ) using 1 inch margins and a 12 point font.
An ECQ statement may include one or two examples of relevant experience. The number of examples is not as important as assuring that your experience matches the ECQ criteria, but please try to limit examples to a maximum of two to ensure a clear and concise narrative that flows. Please provide your examples using the C-C-A-R Model (Challenge/Context/Action/Results), as described below:
Challenge: Describe a specific problem or goal.
Context: Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked to tackle a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale.)
Action: Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge
Results: Give specific examples of the results of your actions. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills. Examples of the CCAR model the preferred method of writing your ECQs can be found at: http://www.opm.gov/ses/references/GuidetoSESQuals_2012.pdf
Supporting Documentation If you are a current or former federal employee, you must submit a copy of your last Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing your position, title, series, grade and eligibility. If you are a Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program graduate, you must submit proof of your OPM certification and your narrative statements addressing only the mandatory technical qualifications. If you are a current or former SES member, you must submit documentation of your SES status and your narrative statements addressing only the mandatory technical qualifications. For documentation, you must submit a copy of your Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing your position, title, series, grade, and tenure.
Applicants who meet the mandatory requirements in items A (Executive Core Qualifications), and B (Mandatory Technical Qualifications) above will be considered qualified for this position. Rating and ranking to determine the best qualified will be conducted by a panel of experts and will be based upon consideration of the degree to which applicants meet the mandatory requirements as described in the announcement. Interviews and qualifications inquiries may be required.
The Executive Core Qualifications of the selectee are subject to prior approval by the Office of Personnel Management Qualifications Review Board (QRB). Unless you have already been certified by an OPM QRB in the past, your ECQs must be certified by an OPM QRB before your appointment can occur. When reviewing Executive Core Qualifications Statements, the QRB is looking for experience as well as specific challenges, actions, and results.
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/474745700. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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Agricultural Research Center is an exciting and rewarding place to start, build and/or continue your Federal career. Be part of our team and support the well-being of American agriculture and the American public. Find Solutions to Agricultural Problems that Affect Americans Every Day, From Field to Table.
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