Consumer Safety Officer

NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries

Multiple locations
Posted 6+ months ago

Summary

This position is located within the Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), with 10 vacancies located in Long Beach, California, Hollywood, Florida, Gloucester, Massachusetts or New Bedford, Massachusetts.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS-23-12085133-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

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Overview

  • Accepting applications

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Duties

As a Consumer Safety Officer, you will perform the following duties:

  • Performs on-site audits and inspections of a variety of seafood products to evaluate their safety, health, and quality in accordance with U.S. regulations, U.S. grade standards, program policy, and commercial item descriptions or specifications. Consumer Safety Officers are exposed to a variety of environments, including seafood processing facilities, cold storage facilities, warehouses, marine terminals, or aboard processing vessels.
  • Assists with implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) process in facility audits and inspections to identify deficiencies, recommend corrective actions, and work with the seafood processing plants and vessels to ensure compliance with U.S. regulations and program policies.
  • Provides guidance and information to seafood industry customers and to team members in support of product management inspection and audit activities.
  • Demonstrates effective written and oral communication skills while collaborating with federal, state, national, local, industry, and academia partners about inspection criteria and results.

The ZP-01 and ZP-02 levels are developmental leading to performance of the duties described above.

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). This system replaced the Federal GS pay plan and structure. Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band.

The ZP-1 is equivalent to the GS-5.
The ZP-2 is equivalent to the GS-7/9.
The ZP-3 is equivalent to the GS-11/12.

*A one year probationary/trial period may be required.
*Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.*
*This position IS NOT in the bargaining unit.
* Position requires the submission of financial disclosure form SF-450.
* ZP-1 and ZP-2 Low Risk, ZP-3 Moderate Risk

Conditions of Employment:

  • 1. Must possess or be able to obtain and maintain a valid state Driver's License.
  • 2. Must be able to lift 50 pounds or more.
  • 3. Must possess sensory abilities (sight, smell, taste) which are capable of detecting and identifying abnormalities (defects) in product characteristics.

Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
  4. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy

EDUCATION:

To qualify for the 0696 series, applicants must possess:

  1. A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in quality assurance or a related degree that included at least 30 semester hours in one or a combination of the following: consumer laws, biological sciences, food science, chemistry, pharmacy, physical sciences, food technology, nutrition, medical science, engineering, epidemiology, veterinary medical science, legal investigations, law enforcement, or related scientific fields that provided knowledge directly related to consumer safety officer work.

    The 30 semester hours may include up to 8 semester hours in statistics, or course work that included the principles, theory, or practical application of computers or computer programming.

    OR

  2. Combination of education and experience--courses consisting of at least 30 semester hours in the fields of study described in paragraph A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

To qualify at ZP-01 or GS-5 level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: N/A
(Note: At this level Applicants that meet basic education requirements for the series are considered qualified for the position for grades GS-01 through GS-05 and ZP-01 for professional and scientific positions is two grade intervals with max equivalent grade of GS-05 at the ZP-01 level.)

To qualify at ZP-02 or GS-7 level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-01 or GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

  • Have knowledge of auditing or inspection skills, including quality assurance of food processing facilities or vessels, to evaluate the safety, health or quality of food products in accordance with policy or specifications; and
  • Providing written guidance and information to customers or team members in support of food inspection or audit activities.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: One year of graduate level education.

OR

Superior Academic Achievement: As demonstrated by a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with one of the following. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application clearly states how you meet one of the provisions below.

  1. A grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study.
  2. A GPA of 3.5 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study or those courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study.
  3. Class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college.
  4. Membership in a national scholastic honor society certified by the association of college honor societies, excluding freshmen honor societies.
OR

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above.

To qualify at ZP-03 or GS-11 level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-02 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:
  • Performing inspection of seafood products to evaluate their safety, health, and quality in accordance with U.S. regulations, U.S. grade standards, program policy, and commercial item descriptions or specifications;
  • Assisting with audits of seafood processing facilities or vessels to evaluate the safety, health and quality of seafood products in accordance with program policy;
  • Working with processing operations to develop Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and quality management systems; and
  • Ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills through written work.
OR

SUBSTITUION OF EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph. D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

OR

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

Additional information

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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.

We will review your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/No, Multiple Choice questions) and place you in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are "gold", "silver" and "bronze". However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the "gold" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:

  • Compliance Inspection
  • Manages and Organizes Information
  • Problem Solving


How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. Preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest quality category (gold) depending on the position and grade level of the job. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating.

Category rating will be used in the ranking and selection process for this position. The quality categories are Gold, Silver, and Bronze. You will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position. If you are eligible, your on-line responses to the application questions will determine your placement in the appropriate quality category described above. Your responses must be substantiated by your resume. If you do not respond to the application questions you may be rated ineligible. Veterans' preference rules for category rating will be applied.

NOTE: If it is determined that you have rated yourself higher than is supported in your description of experience and/or education as described in your resume/application, or that your resume or application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible and/or not qualified.

To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12085151
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Required Documents

Required documents may be: (1) uploaded directly from your desktop; or (2) uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments.

A complete application package includes a resume, required documents and completion of the vacancy announcement questionnaire. Please see this guidance: What to include in your resume

You are highly encouraged to use USAJOBS Resume Builder to ensure all required information is included in your Resume. If you use your own resume, curriculum vitae, or any other written form you choose, for each work experience at a minimum, your resume must include; job title(s) (including job series and grade, if federal); description of duties or work performed; education; starting and ending dates (month and year); and hours worked per week and/or full-time or part-time. If identifying as part-time you must state the number of hours per week. (NOTE: A full-time work schedule requires most employees to work 33-40 hours during the work week. A part-time schedule requires an employee to work less than full-time, but for a specific number of hours (usually 16-32 hours per administrative work week) on a prearranged scheduled tour of duty.)

Transcripts- If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) & Inter-agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Eligibles

If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, the Servicing Human Resources Office must receive proof by the closing date of this announcement that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330 Subpart F for CTAP and 5 CFR 330 Subpart G for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. This includes:

  • copy of the agency notice;
  • your most recent Performance Rating; and
  • your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.
If you are a CTAP or ICTAP eligible, you will be considered well qualified if you earn a minimum score of 85 (prior to the assignment of veteran's preference points). For more information on CTAP/ICTAP please click here.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

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How to Apply

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Agency contact information

Monet Davis-Kelsey Monet Davis-Kelsey

Address
NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS)
1315 East West Hwy
SSMC4
Silver Spring, MD 20910
US
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Next steps

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