Supervisory Agriculturist (State Plant Health Director)

Summary

This position is accountable for APHIS scientific and administrative plant regulatory activities within the State of Florida. Incumbent will have responsibility for directing the state activities and setting priorities that balance consideration of public and industry demands against those of economics, efficiencies, and available resources. This role will also serve as the primary point of contact for plant health protection and emergency management and response in the state.

Duties

• The duties may include, but are not limited to:
• Serves as the State Plant Health Director (SPHD) with responsibility for APHIS scientific and administrative plant regulatory activities within Florida.
• Directs the state activities and sets priorities that balance consideration of public and industry demands against those of economics, efficiency, and available resources.
• Oversees the identification of plant pest pathways through analysis and utilization of risk data.
• Oversees effective permit and compliance programs to mitigate risk at high risk containment facilities, soil laboratories, and plant pest permittee establishments.
• Directs/administers federal export certification program for plants, plant products, and animal by-products within the state.
• Works cooperatively with State Plant Regulatory Officials (SPRO) to develop and document state emergency management plans while ensuring plans are tested and modified as necessary.
• Manages invasive species which are covered under APHIS regulation or through Congressional direction that are harmful to agriculture or the environment.
• Responsible for all administrative and programmatic activities complying with appropriate Federal and state regulations and guidelines.
• The incumbent manages all facets of APHIS-related personnel, finance, and property management for Florida.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade (GS-14) level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. BASIC REQUIREMENT: Degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of education and experience: post high school education with courses equivalent to a major, which is defined as 24 semester/36 quarter hours, in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management, chemistry or related disciplines appropriate to the position, PLUS appropriate experience or additional course work. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must meet the following qualification requirement: FOR THE GS-15 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-14 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Assessing the severity and scope of an agricultural pest outbreak and determine response strategy including how to implement these strategies. Safeguarding the health of agricultural plants and ecosystems by preventing, detecting, and responding to threats of agro-terrorism. Experience running Fruit Fly Programs including experience with Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and release of sterile fruit flies. Experience running Port Operations and overseeing Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Programs, coordinating and collaborating with other federal agencies and partners. Negotiating and coordinating resolution/handling of critical programs with nonfederal government officials i.e., emergency programs dealing with significant threats to American agriculture production. Overseeing Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) Programs as well as Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Programs. Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level. TRANSCRIPTS are required if: This position requires specific coursework or a degree in a specific field to be basically qualified. This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university. 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

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments, and required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. Resume cannot exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume to your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. 4: If you are required to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. 5: Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. 6: Set aside at least 1-2 hours to take the USA Hire assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. 7: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. NOTE: Please verify that the 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. Only one resume will be reviewed. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.