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Technical Information Specialist

Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located with the Agricultural Research Service,National Agricultural Library, Scientific Data Management Branch in Beltsville, MD.

The incumbent is responsible for managing NAL's services and products that make USDA-funded scientific research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR). The incumbent will manage vision, strategy, and implementation of best practices for scientific metadata and data repository services and products.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/03/2020 to 03/17/2020
Salary
$102,663 to - $133,465 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Beltsville, MD
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
ARS-S20Y-10740163-FMM
Control number
561566500

Duties

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  • Gathers and manages business and customer requirements for NAL data repository products and services that support creation, curation, and publication of scientific metadata (e.g. Ag Data Commons https://data.nal.usda.gov/ ).
  • Provides informatics expertise related to scientific metadata, metadata standards, and their implementation in information management and transfer services; stays current with state of the art.
  • Responsible for implementing requirements of NAL specified in the USDA Public Access Policy for Digital Scientific Data.
  • Works with department, agency, and scientific community stakeholders to define public access and open data requirements in each phase of the Scientific Research Data lifecycle.
  • Manages vision, strategy, and roadmap for NAL FAIR data and Data Management Planning services, understands and adheres to short and long-term strategy and goals.
  • Ensures goals are tied to institutional strategy/goals and specific customer priorities for achieving goals, manages the process for collecting and synthesizing requirements and sets customer feedback.
  • Provides team leadership for NAL products and services.
  • Responsible for team culture; continuous improvement of team business processes and practices; internal and external stakeholder engagement and communication; and team alignment with vision, strategy and goals.
  • Responsible for product and service delivery, including specific project planning and execution; defining incremental quality requirements; and for defining and meeting key performance indicators for products and services.
  • Responsible for procurement actions related to mission requirements.

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
  • 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:

Education: A full 4-year course of study that meets all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with major study in the subject-matter field of the position to be filled.

OR

Experience: Four years of experience that provided knowledge of the basic principles, theories, practices, techniques, and terminology of a disciple or subject-matter field; and understanding of the standard methods, procedures, and techniques of research and analysis in the subject-matter field; and where appropriate, ability to read and comprehend nontechnical material in one or more foreign languages. Such experience must have been equivalent to that which would have been gained through a 4-year college curriculum.

OR

A combination of education and experience as described above.

AND

Specialized Experience:
Qualifying experience for GS-13 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-12 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 managing business requirements for informational technology tools and systems; providing recommendations on data standards, formats and metadata policies; and managing stakeholder relationships.

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.

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.


How you will be evaluated

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

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures and USDA policy using category rating. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of 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:

  • Data Management
  • Project Management
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Strategic Thinking



Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Those determined to be in the best qualified category will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

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/10740163

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