Clarification from the agency

UNITED STATES CITIZENS MAY APPLY (no prior federal experience is required).

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The Lab Accreditation Program Specialist serves as the Senior Agency Official covering the full range of CPSC third party lab accreditation activities as established by 16CFR1112 and related regulations, directives and procedures. He/she is required to use broad based knowledge and expertise in third party laboratory conformity assessment programs, including the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperative (ILAC), the capabilities of Accrediting Bodies throughout the world, and the development and use of related accreditation program standards such as ISO-17025-2017. The incumbent is knowledgeable in the development and changes to such standards and how they apply towards recognizing applicant laboratories for approval as CPSC third party laboratories that can issue conformance reports for products that meet children’s products safety standards. The Lab Accreditation Program Specialist is required to use persuasive abilities to motivate the appropriate internal and external organizations to initiate and support the development, maintenance and updating of the CPSC Lab Accreditation IT Systems. The cooperation and respect of the officials in these organizations for the incumbent is a key factor in the Commission's operating and maintaining a high quality, accurate lab accreditation system to ensure manufacturers and others have access to identifying and using qualified labs to certify Childrens Products to ensure CPSC standards are met.

Additionally, the incumbent is responsible for:

• Communicating with persons and organizations in the U.S. and globally that have professional expertise related to laboratory accreditation. This includes accreditation bodies, testing laboratories, the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), and experts at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and other federal agencies. Communications are frequent and varied in scope including discussions with applicant laboratories on their third party certification application status, accrediting bodies in various countries to verify scope and status of specific laboratories, and with Governmental personnel on the development of the related international standards and progress on trade or mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) between countries regarding acceptance of third party lab results between that country’s laboratories and the United States.
• Identifying the need for new or revised policies, procedures, directives and/or control systems required by new or ongoing children’s product standards and programs. Reviews, monitors and evaluates developments in CPSC, and national and international standards as they may affect the CPSC Lab Accreditation programs policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with the Associate Executive Director (AED) for Laboratory Sciences, the AED-EXHR and other management officials on controversial program issues, considers alternative courses of action, and recommends proper course to be taken. Counseling respective management members including Commissioners and Commissioner Staff of the impact on operations of various options.
• Reviewing and evaluating short- and long-range management plans and programming documents related to program goals. Develops proposals and plans to allocate resources to provide for optimum program effectiveness in order to meet established goals.
• Directing and monitoring the development and implementation of new or revised management policies, procedures, and systems needed to cope with new program requirements and functional changes resulting from new legislation, congressional and/or consumer interests, and new technological developments.
• Reporting to Associate Executive Director - Laboratory Science on all related activities and their progress as well as assesses results against performance goals and other matters related to processing laboratory applications for the CPSC program including preparing quarterly and annual reports on timeliness measures for processing independent third-party lab applications and audit submittals.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required.
• A background investigation is required.

Must be a U.S. Citizen.

This is a Public Trust Position. Employment in this position requires a background investigation. If you are selected and cannot meet the criteria requirement for the pre-employment waiver and/or a favorable suitability determination within a reasonable period of time due to disclosed or undisclosed background issues, the employment offer may be withdrawn.

Selectees will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to appointment and the appropriate background investigation forms to determine suitability for Federal employment.  False statements or responses on these forms can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.

The selectee will be required to complete a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the I-9 Form. We will compare information provided to confirm employee’s identity and eligibility to work. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.

You are applying under Delegated Examining and if selected under this authority, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period, even if you are a transfer from another federal agency.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the CPSC;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the CPSC or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

All applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

GS-14: 1) Demonstrated experience in managing, monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of a testing laboratory accreditation program involving a number of laboratories; 2) working knowledge and understanding of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperative (ILAC), mutual recognition agreements (MRAs), ISO 17025, ISO 17065, ISO 17011; 3) working knowledge of testing laboratory quality management systems needed to comply with ISO 17025, and accrediting of testing laboratories and accrediting accreditation bodies and their roles in the accreditation process; and 4) working knowledge of laboratory accreditation assessments including some experience participating in such assessments.

GS-15: 1) Demonstrated experience in managing, monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of an extensive testing laboratory accreditation program involving at least over 50 laboratories; 2) expert knowledge and understanding of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperative (ILAC), mutual recognition agreements (MRAs), ISO 17025, ISO 17065, ISO 17011; 3) expert knowledge of testing laboratory quality management systems needed to comply with ISO 17025, and accrediting of accreditation bodies and their roles in the accreditation process; and 4) expert knowledge of laboratory accreditation assessments including experience leading several such assessments.

A bachelor’s degree in engineering or a physical science (such as chemistry, biology, etc....) is highly desirable. Completion of formal training courses in ISO-17025 and/or ISO-17011 is highly desirable.

Evidence of the above specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held.  Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience or based on job titles alone.  If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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.

Applicants must meet the qualifications for this position by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be rated on the extent and quality of experience and education relevant to the duties of the position by a Subject Matter Expert (SME).  The CPSC determines the best qualified candidates based on the major job-related competencies and evaluation of your knowledge, skills, and abilities reflected in your application (including resume), responses to the assessment, and supporting documents using the category rating process. Your resume must support your answers to the assessment, or your category may be changed. All eligible applicants will be placed in one of the following three categories: Best, Better, or Good.

RESUME: All applicants are required to submit a resume limited to two (2) pages (i.e., 1 page that is double-sided or 2 pages that are one-sided each) showing all relevant experience.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

CTAP/ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating (Rating of at least “Better”).

Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, salary, duties performed for each position, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level/pay band.