Customer Services Assistant

Summary

This position is in the Office of Public Affairs and Training (OPAT), Food Safety Education Staff (FSES). An integral part of the FSES program is the Meat and Poultry Hotline. The Staff's primary mission is to effectively communicate with the public and internal audiences about food safety issues and FSIS programs and activities; to gain and increase citizen participation and behavior changes regarding food safety; and to implement FSIS' mission to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

Duties

• Respond to inquiries via phone, email, webforms, and live chat, addressing questions related to meat, poultry, and egg product storage, handling, safety, labeling, and other areas tied to the FSIS mission.
• Deliver consumer information, advisory services, and resources to a diverse audience with varying needs and characteristics, focusing on wholesomeness, food safety, storage, nutrition, and labeling.
• Utilize pre-approved Knowledge Articles (KAs) in the knowledge management database (SalesForce) to ensure responses are accurate, consistent, and understandable to the public.
• Assess each customer’s unique needs and adjust responses accordingly, using discretion to select the most appropriate information and approach.
• Address common and uncommon issues, concerns, complaints, and general questions related to meat, poultry, and egg products, ensuring resolution through the Hotline.
• Apply and adhere to agency EEO and civil rights policies, goals, and objectives in all duties, promoting equal opportunity in communications and avoiding discriminatory displays or behavior.
• Communicate with co-workers, program officials, managers, the general public, private and public agencies, and specialized groups (e.g., media), exchanging information and fostering public awareness.

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. FOR THE GS-05 LEVEL: Applicants must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: Responding to basic inquiries from the public via phone, email, or similar channels. Using pre-approved scripts or knowledge articles to deliver accurate, consistent responses. Demonstrating clear communication and customer-focused service. Following established procedures to escalate unusual questions or complaints. OR 4 years of education beyond high school. OR Combination of education and specialized experience. In this instance, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Two full academic years of study (60 credits) is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. The combination must equal 100% of the requirement. (e.g. if you have 67% education, then you need 33% specialized experience.) FOR THE GS-06 LEVEL: Applicants must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: Handling routine and moderately complex inquiries from the public via phone, email, or similar channels. Tailoring responses to customer needs rather than relying solely on standard scripts. Identifying patterns in consumer questions and communicating them to senior staff. Resolving common and some uncommon complaints through established methods. Communicating with diverse internal and external groups to share information. FOR THE GS-07 LEVEL: Applicants must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: Independently managing complex, sensitive, or unusual consumer inquiries. Adjusting communication strategies to meet needs of specialized audiences. Monitoring trends in consumer issues and helping prepare the team for emerging topics Serving as a resource to peers for difficult calls, complaint resolution, or technical questions. 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

Education is substitutable at the GS-05 level as defined above in the qualifications section.

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. Resumes must not exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire 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. 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. Set aside at least 3 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. 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. 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. 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. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.