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NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (not-to-exceed 1 year and 1 day). Term appointments are non-status, non-permanent appointments of limited duration. Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition.

Major duties and responsibilities include:

• Making daily and routine observations of animals, recognizing deviations from normal health status.
• Checking in new animals and setting up initial records.
• Weaning and sexing animals in breeding colony.
• Maintaining animals that require specialized care such as aseptic techniques in a pathogen free colony.
• Maintaining orderly and sanitary conditions throughout the Veterinary Medical Unit.
• Cleaning cages, racks, pans, floors and other areas in the unit.
• Operating various laboratory equipment used in animal care.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• May be required to serve a probationary period
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-5 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower graded level in Federal Service. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has provided you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a GS-5 Biological Science Laboratory Technician. Qualifying Experience must have been related to the work of the position for which application is made. The specialized experience required for some positions in this series is normally work performed in a controlled environment. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: research activity or control program work; nursery work that required the growing and maintenance of plants in a controlled environment; work comparable to that with a large dairy farm where production records, animal environment, and sanitary conditions were kept in accordance with modern dairy practice.

Note: Farming experience that was not performed in a controlled environment, or experience as a laborer who was not responsible for planning and scheduling his/her own work, but only performed assigned tasks, would not qualify as specialized experience.

In addition to the experience above, you must also possess the following specialized experience: operating various equipment to maintain facility such as sterilizer, cage washer, glassware washer, incinerator, etc.; maintaining routine records for animal care such as feeding, treatment, disposal, and environmental monitoring; weaning and sexing animals in breeding colony; recognizing deviations from normal health status and administering proper medical treatment according to protocol specifications; collecting blood, body fluids, and tissue samples for research study. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.)

~OR~

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: You must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours of courses must have been directly related to the position to be filled. The successful completion of a full course of study of at least 12 months in a school for clinical laboratory technicians may be substituted for the 1 year of specialized experience required at the GS-5 level for positions involving microbiology and biochemistry technician work. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION)

~OR~

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: You must have equivalent combinations of specialized experience and successfully completed graduate education as described above to meet the total experience requirements to qualify at the GS 6 level, for this position? (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE AND COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION)

~AND~

SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: Selective Placement Factors (SPF) are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for the position. Applicants who do not meet the SPF are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Do you possess working experience of animal husbandry and following procedures as specified by Association of Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC)? (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.)

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Animal Husbandry
• Customer Service
• Technical Competence

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.