This employee supports the USDA Forest Service, Forest Product Laboratory located in Madison, WI. The employee conducts analytical chemistry techniques, develops analytical methodology, collects, and analyzes complex data, interprets results, troubleshoots instrumentation, and plans chemistry-related projects in support of agency research activities.
For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Biljana Bujanovic at biljana.bujanovic@usda.gov or 608-231-9430.
Summary
This employee supports the USDA Forest Service, Forest Product Laboratory located in Madison, WI. The employee conducts analytical chemistry techniques, develops analytical methodology, collects, and analyzes complex data, interprets results, troubleshoots instrumentation, and plans chemistry-related projects in support of agency research activities.
For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Biljana Bujanovic at biljana.bujanovic@usda.gov or 608-231-9430.
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.
Consults and collaborates with FPL scientists, doctoral candidates, post-doctoral scientists, visiting scientists, and professors on required analytical chemistry needs for studies.
Characterizes and quantifies the chemical structures found in wood and its constituents using a variety of methods.
Determines the most appropriate approach to obtaining high-quality and meaningful data, and selects or creates the specific analytical procedures to be used.
Modifies the methods and procedures as needed to satisfy analytical requirements and to solve methodological, instrumentation and analytical problems.
Evaluates and interprets the significance of analytical findings, makes recommendations, and reports the results.
Prepares reports consisting of a description of the results and necessary conclusions to ensure that all the data has been obtained and is valid and specifying the methods and procedures and any modifications used along with any validation data.
Evaluates newly proposed methods and instrumentation to improve or extend their laboratory application.
Tests, evaluates, diagnoses and repairs laboratory equipment and instrumentation.
Assists in the procurement of instruments, replacement parts, and other needs of the laboratory. Includes developing changes and writing operating instructions for use by other laboratory personnel.
Trains and supervises students, technicians, and chemists to conduct analytical procedures, operation, and maintenance of instrumentation, and oversees their performance to assure accuracy of data.
Keeps high standards in working in a chemical laboratory and maintains high standards in working in an environmentally conscious and safe manner.
Properly uses and oversees inventory, storage and disposal of lab chemicals.
Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
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.
Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.
Basic Requirement:
Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics.
OR
Combination of education and experience -- course work equivalent to a major as shown above, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.
Specialized Experience Requirement:
For the GS-11: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the federal service performing work related to the duties of this position. To qualify at this grade level, your resum? must reflect 3 out of 4 of the following:
Using methods including spectroscopy (nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared), spectrometry (UV/visible, mass), chromatography (gas and liquid) and wet chemical methods for sample analysis;
Modifying current chemistry methods and techniques and recording them for use by others to improve the efficiency, accuracy and/or precision of routine analyses;
Preparing reports for scientific publications outlining study findings and procedures; and
Evaluating new analytical instrumentation and techniques to make recommendations to scientists and management for purchases of and access to new instrumentation.
Qualifying graduate education for the GS-11 level:
Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled). Acceptable fields of study include research areas related to the work of the position including: environmental analysis as a chemist, research chemistry, and analytical chemistry.
An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.). Acceptable fields of study include research areas related to the work of the position including: environmental analysis as a chemist, research chemistry, and analytical chemistry.
For the GS-12: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the federal service performing work related to the duties of this position. To qualify at this grade level, your resum? must reflect all of the following:
Independently carrying out sample isolation and purification and analysis of principle components as well as trace components of research samples;
Using methods including spectroscopy (nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared), spectrometry (UV/visible, mass), chromatography (gas and liquid) and wet chemical methods for sample analysis including routine maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of instrumentation;
Modifying and developing new methods to improve the efficiency, accuracy and/or precision of routine analyses; and
Training technicians and chemists to conduct analytical procedures and collaborating with scientists as a partner in research especially on particularly difficult analytical challenges.
There is no substitution of education for specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level. You must meet the specialized experience to be considered for this job opportunity at this level.
Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade (salary) if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.
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, knowledge, and skills 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
See above for education that may be qualifying for the specific grade level.
Selections made under this authority will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would be given a new appointment.
If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.
This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.
Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.
Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.
Government Housing is not available.
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.
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.
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; veteran's preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, 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.
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.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes:1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.
Read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (MST), Monday - Friday. If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be returned to Human Resources no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order for it to be entered into the system prior to the closing date.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, in USAJOBS click "Apply" and follow the instructions to attach your resume and required documents, complete the assessment questionnaire, and submit your application.
NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US
Next steps
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS to check your application status.
You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
Resume that includes:1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.
Read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (MST), Monday - Friday. If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be returned to Human Resources no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order for it to be entered into the system prior to the closing date.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, in USAJOBS click "Apply" and follow the instructions to attach your resume and required documents, complete the assessment questionnaire, and submit your application.
NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US
Next steps
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS to check your application status.
You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
