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Biologist

Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located within USDA, ARS, Field Organization, Northeast Area, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab, in Beltsville, MD.

In this position, you will coordinate with data management specialists from other network sites to facilitate the delivery of data; and provide input and leadership for the development of data management plans, procedures, and protocols to include metadata.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/15/2022 to 08/26/2022
Salary
$74,950 - $97,430 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Beltsville, MD
Remote job
No
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
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
ARS-D22Y-11605818-SG
Control number
671434500

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

Duties

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  • Leads development and implementation of long-range plans for data management within the appropriate location mission, objectives, and research contexts.
  • Collaborates with domain specialists to design and implement automated data preparation pipelines, including ingestion, cleaning, and exploratory modeling.
  • Independently prepares technical reports, journal publications, popular press articles, and grant proposals as requested by the research leader or unit scientists.
  • Provides leadership and expertise to unit scientists and support personnel in all aspects of research data acquisition and information management including team research in area of expertise.
  • Provides advanced guidance and advice to unit scientists, post-docs, technicians, and student workers, as well as with collaborating entities, in the analyses, reporting and presentation of the unit?s research projects.

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:
A. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
B.
Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
AND

In addition to the Basic Requirement listed above, you must meet the required specialized experience below:

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-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 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 designing and implementing automated data preparation pipelines, including ingestion, cleaning, and exploratory modeling; utilizing programming languages such as Python, C++, R, or similar programming, web development and scripting languages to maintain data sets; and participating as a member of the scientific team to track data from a greenhouse, laboratory, plot, or field project.
OR
Education: Successful completion of three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or Ph.D. equivalent doctoral degree, if directly related. Related degrees may include animal, plant, environment, soil, forestry, food, nutrition, economics, sociology, or any other biology or social science degree.
OR
A combination of education and specialized experience as described above.

Physical Demands: Work is primarily sedentary although some walking, standing, bending, and carrying items weighing as much as 50 pounds may be required occasionally. Periodic field work is required to observe data collection, methodology and protocols. Seasonal demands frequently occur, and the incumbent must adjust accordingly.

Work Environment: Work may be performed in an office, laboratory, greenhouse, etc. The work may be located within an environmentally controlled area. Occasional trips to field sites to assist with remote data collection may be required. Occasional travel to other Agency and collaborator research locations and elsewhere for meetings, workshops, training, and for field activities may be required.

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.

Applicants must be available to report for duty at the time a selection is made. Selections are typically made within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

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.
  • Recruitment or Relocation Incentive may be authorized. Final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official at time of job offer.
  • This Position is being filled through OPM's government-wide Direct-Hire Authority for this occupation and is open to all U.S. Citizens. Your application will be evaluated for basic eligibility and to determine if your experience and/or education meet the minimum qualification requirements described in this announcement. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications and other basic requirements will be referred and are eligible for selection.
  • Selections made under this authority will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given a new appointment to the civil service.
  • 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

This is a Direct Hire Authority position. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, to include any selective placement factor(s), if applicable, will be referred to the selecting official. Before a certificate is issued to the selecting official, the resume is reviewed to ensure that you meet all the qualification requirements. A rating will not be used; veterans' preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position.

Note: All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated by a resume. If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration.

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/11605818

Agricultural Research Service

Find Solutions to Agricultural Problems that Affect Americans Every Day, From Field to Table.

Agency contact information

Stephanie Gonzalez
Phone
7038288491
Email
Stephanie.Gonzalez2@usda.gov
Address
Agricultural Research Service
10300 Baltimore Avenue
Beltsville, MD 20705
US

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