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Veterinary Medical Officer (District Veterinary Medical Officer)

Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
CIRCUIT - VARIES

Summary

This position is in the Raleigh District and serves as primary contact for all veterinary duties associated with food safety, animal welfare, foreign animal disease surveillance, ante-mortem and postmortem procedures and dispositions, and export certification.

Shifts and species vary based on assignment

For information contact Laura Hutchison, (919) 214-1984, laura.hutchison@usda.gov

Employee may be detailed to any shift at any plant in the Raleigh District

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
04/16/2026 to 04/22/2026
Salary
$106,437 - $138,370 per year

Salary shown is based on the Rest of the U.S. Locality Pay Area. Final salary will be determined based on the selectee's duty station

Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Asheboro, NC
Clinton, NC
Monroeville, NJ
Edinburg, VA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
75% or less - Job may occasionally require travel up to 75% and employee may be detailed to any shift at any plant within the specific district for which the selection has been made.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
FSIS-26-MMP-12936460-JM
Control number
865449400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent FSIS employees with competitive status and employees eligible under the USDA Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) and employees on the USDA Reemployment Priority List (RPL)

Duties

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  • Interpret and analyze guidelines and regulations
  • Implement guidelines, policies, and regulations to provide personnel support
  • Conduct research and investigations to make judgments and recommendations
  • Foster working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
  • Communicate guidelines and processes to plant personnel
  • Draft recommendations, reports, and guidance documents
  • Apply veterinary medical concepts, principles, and practices
  • Perform routine onsite humane handling and good commercial practices

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with Selective Service or exempt from registration
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information
  • Subject to a one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period
  • 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/

Qualifications

Please reference the specific Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualifications standards for the 0701 Job Series.

You must meet the following eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the announcement:

Time in grade: You must have completed one year at the GS-12 grade to meet the time-in-grade requirement.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade. Qualifying experience includes:

  • Performing, planning or managing veterinary medical activities
  • Applying and enforcing policies, practices, and regulations
  • Knowledge of veterinary medical concepts, scientific literature, and emerging issues related to food safety
  • Coordinating new or revised veterinary medical policies, methods, or procedures
  • Interpreting and applying the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of an inspection program that includes humane handling antemortem, and postmortem inspection procedures conducted in slaughter establishments
  • Reviewing Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans or Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs)
  • Establishing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
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

In addition to the specialized experience requirement, you must meet the following basic education requirement to qualify for this position.

  1. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a school or college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA). The AVMA website has a listing of all AVMA-accredited veterinary medical schools.
  2. Graduates of foreign veterinary medical schools that are not accredited by the AVMA Council on Education (Refer to AVMA web site, http://www.avma.org(external link)for information about schools in this category) must meet one of the requirements in the Office of Personnel Management's qualifications standard for the Veterinary Medical Science Series 0701: Veterinary Medical Science Series 0701
You must submit transcripts with your application.

Additional information

Applicants must:

  • Be physically and medically able to efficiently perform the essential job functions, without being a direct threat to themselves and others.
  • Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level.
  • Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climbing stairs and ladders.
  • Be able to lift, carry, push and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds.
  • Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers with a normal sense of touch in both hands.
  • Have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease and have correctable vision of at least 20/40 in one eye.
  • Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (more than 25 percent error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying.
  • Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP or RPL eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements. 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 applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments.

Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.

To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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 based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Accountability
  • Decision Making
  • Oral Communication
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Technical Competence (Veterinary)
  • Written Communication

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

You must complete all required steps in the application process. In addition to the application and assessment questionnaire, this position requires a preliminary resume and education review to evaluate competencies and education required to perform the job.

The experience and education described on your resume must be accurate and sufficiently detailed information to clearly demonstrate that you have the listed competencies. All information used to evaluate your application must be received by the closing date of the announcement. No documents can be accepted once the announcement closes.

If we determine that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow 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 and including removal from Federal service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12936460

The preview does not initiate the application process. To begin the application, click the "Apply" button.

Food Safety and Inspection Service

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for protecting the public's health by ensuring the safety of the Nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products.

For more information on USDA and the Food Safety and Inspection Service, visit FSIS.

Agency contact information

James Morrin
Phone
612-852-7619
Email
james.morrin@usda.gov
Address
Food Safety and Inspection Service
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
US

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