|
Department: Department Of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Sub Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA
Job Announcement Number:
FSIS-MCE-2009-0119
Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) 5 / 7
Salary Range: 30,772.00 - 49,553.00 USD per year
Open Period: Thursday, April 30, 2009
to Thursday, May 14, 2009
Series & Grade: GS-1862-05/07
Position Information: Full-time Permanent
Promotion Potential: 09
Duty Locations: 1 vacancy - St Johnsbury, VT
Who May Be Considered:
All U.S. Citizens; current or
former Federal employment is not
required.
Job Summary:
ABOUT THIS POSITION
This position has promotion
potential to the GS-9 level.
Duty Hours: 7:00 am to 3:30 pm
Monday - Friday
EST. 8868 - PT Farm LLC
Meat processing and meat
slaughter
This position does not rotate.
This is an excellent opportunity
for those seeking a greater
challenge and responsibility in
a position directly involved in
protecting public health. As a
trainee, you will be learning and
performing the following duties
in a developmental capacity with
supervision and training. Here's what to expect as you progress
in
this position:
As a Consumer Safety Inspector
(CSI), you will ensure that regulated
Meat and Poultry establishments
produce a safe product by executing
appropriate inspection methods,
determining noncompliance with
regulatory requirements,
documenting noncompliance, and initiating
enforcement action, where
warranted.
Key Requirements:
- This announcement may be
used to fill additional vacancies.
- "FSIS UTILIZES
E-VERIFY TO VERIFY IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY"
Major Duties:
In your position as a Consumer
Safety Inspector, you will verify
that meat and poultry slaughter
and/or processing establishments'
Sanitation Standard Operating
Procedures (SSOP) and Hazard Analysis
and Critical Control Point
(HACCP) Plans meet regulatory
requirements and are being
executed effectively to prevent
unsanitary conditions and
adulteration of product.
You will review records, observe
plant operations, and conduct hands-
on verification to ensure
compliance with regulatory requirements.
You will prepare detailed
documentation (Non-Compliance Record) on
noncompliance with regulatory
requirements. You will determine
when regulatory control action
is necessary. You will assess
whether the plant's corrective
or preventative actions are
acceptable and effective, if
there are trends in noncompliance, or
if enforcement action is
warranted.
You will conduct regulatory
oversight activities inside plants in
matters relating to other
consumer protections (e.g., economic
adulteration and misbranding).
As a Consumer Safety Inspector,
you will have contact with plant
managers, owners, and others to
explain legal and regulatory
requirements, discuss operation
of the plants' SSOP, HACCP plan, and
other food safety programs,
communicate on and defend determinations
on noncompliance issues, and to
discuss plans for addressing non-
compliance. You will also work with a variety of
individuals to
resolve problems, clarify
differences of interpretation
concerning HACCP and other food
safety or consumer protection
requirements, and you will
advise other Agency inspectors,
supervisors and officers on
inspection and enforcement matters for
which you are involved.
In addition, you may conduct
various samplings, surveys, and tests
to obtain pertinent data on
potential problem areas, industry
trends, or other issues of
current interest to the Agency.
You may
be involved in performing health
and safety verification sampling
and tests for detection of
specific microbes (e.g., salmonella,
listeria, etc.), residues or
contaminants.
You may also perform direct,
structured sampling involving Protein
Fat Free (PFF), undeclared
species, undeclared ingredients, or
suspected economic violations
involving net weight or labeling.
Qualifications:
1. Work Experience: To qualify
based only on work experience, you
must have 1 year of specialized
experience equivalent to the
experience that would have been
gained if working in this position
or a similar, closely related
position at the next lower level. See
specialized experience
definition.
OR
2. Education and Training:
Successful completion of a full
4 year course of study leading to a
bachelor's degree with major
study or at least 24 semester
hours/credits in any combination
of coursework in the areas of:
agricultural, biological, or
physical sciences, food technology,
epidemiology, home economics,
pharmacy, engineering, or
nutrition. Specialized
government or military training may be
creditable if it is related
directly to this position.
OR
3. A combination of education
and specialized experience. In this
instance, only education in
excess of the first 60 semester hours of
a course of study leading to a
bachelor's degree (with some related
coursework, as described in
number 2 above) is creditable towards
meeting the requirements, along
with specialized work experience.
The combination must equal 100%
of the requirement.
For example, if you have 33%
education, then you need 67%
specialized experience.
4. One full year of directly
related graduate education is
qualifying for GS-7.
Specialized Experience:
In order to meet the specialized
experience requirement, you will
need to have completed 52 weeks
of progressively responsible
specialized experience
equivalent to the experience that would have
been gained if working in this
position at the next lower grade
level within 30 days after the
closing date of this announcement,
OR the appropriate education
substitution listed above. This
includes experience that
provided you with knowledge of the
properties and characteristics
of regulated food commodities and
substances, such as meat,
poultry, fish, eggs,or other food for
human consumption, and other
ingestible substances, such as
pharmaceuticals. This experience
should include several or all of
the following:
Skill in applying proper
techniques for collecting samples and
performing field tests and
examinations, skill in developing written
reports and reporting findings
or results orally, and skill in
maintaining effective personal
contacts with a variety of
individuals. Such experience may
have been acquired in work such as
consumer safety inspector or
inspection aid, food inspector, public
health inspector, quality
inspection specialist, or similar position
with responsibility for
sampling, quality control and sanitation in
a food manufacturing or
production environment, or similar
environment for other ingestible
items.
There are several ways that you
can meet the basic qualification
requirements for the Consumer
Safety Inspector (CSI) trainee
position. They are:
1. Work Experience.
2. Education and Training.
3. A combination of education
and specialized experience.
or
4. One full year of directly
related graduate education is
qualifying for GS-7.
How You Will Be Evaluated:
Applicants are evaluated in
accordance with Delegated Examining
Procedures. An automated rating
system, based on the on-line
assessment and application
process is used. Before any
certificate
can be issued to the selecting
official, the resume is reviewed
carefully by an HR Specialist to
assure that (a) minimum
qualification requirements are
met, (b) the resume supports the
answers provided to the
job-specific questions, and (c) that your
resume addresses experience and
education relevant to this position.
To
preview questions please click here.
Benefits:
The Federal government offers a
number of exceptional benefits to
its employees. The following Web
addresses are provided for your
reference to explore the major
benefits offered to most Federal
employees.
Flexible Spending Accounts - The
Federal Flexible Spending Accounts
Program (FSAFeds) allows you to
pay for certain health and dependent
care expenses with pre-tax
dollars. For information visit:
https://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/index.asp
Health Insurance - The Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program
offers over 100 optional plans.
For information visit:
http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - Most Federal employees
earn both annual and sick leave. For
additional information visit:
http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - The Federal
Employees' Group Life Insurance Program
(FEGLI) offers: Basic Life
Insurance plus three types of optional
insurance, for additional
information visit:
http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - The
Federal Long Term Care Insurance
Program (FLTCIP) provides long
term care insurance for Federal
employees and their parents,
parents-in-law, stepparents, spouses,
and adult children. For
additional information visit:
http://www.ltcfeds.com/
Retirement Program - Almost all
new employees are automatically
covered by the Federal Employees
Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a
three-tiered retirement plan.
The three tiers are: Social Security
Benefits, Basic Benefit Plan,
Thrift Savings Plan. For additional
information visit:
http://www.opm.gov/retire/index.asp
Other Information:
Effective July 19, 2009, FSIS
will begin operating under the Public
Health Human Resources System
(PHHRS), a Pay Banding and Pay for
Performance Demonstration
Project, in which non-bargaining unit
positions will be classified by
career path, occupational series,
and pay bands rather than the
traditional General Schedule (GS)
grades in the Federal
Service. This position will be
included in
PHHRS.
PHHRS will allow FSIS the
flexibility to offer exceptional
candidates higher salaries than
most other Federal agencies.
Additionally, employees will be
eligible to receive an annual pay
increase based upon performance.
For more information on PHHRS,
including information on its pay
tables and how it will benefit
employees, please visit
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Careers/PHHRS_Demo_Project/index.asp
Future promotion is not
guaranteed and depends on demonstrated
performance and ability to
assume additional responsibility.
The
selectee will not be required to
reapply or compete again for
promotion to the full
performance level of this position.
ENTITLEMENT TO THE PAYMENT OF
RELOCATION EXPENSES WILL BE DETERMINED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
PROVISIONS OUTLINED IN FSIS DIRECTIVE 3820.2.
OTHER IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
Condition of Employment:
This position has a training
program requirement as a condition of
employment. If selected, you must successfully
complete a multi-
week training program at a
designated location, which may require
travel outside the duty location
for an extended period. The
training you will attend is
called the Food Safety Regulatory
Essentials (FSRE). The type of class you will attend and
length of
time you will need to attend the
training will be based on the types
of HACCP processes you will be
expected to verify in the
establishment(s) to which you
will be assigned in this new
position. For example, if the position is
assigned to conduct
verification activities in
plants producing raw products, two weeks
of FSRE training will be
required. If your assignment
covers
establishments with not shelf
stable, ready-to-eat/not ready-to-eat
processes, you will attend the
three-week FSRE course. If your
assignment involves verification
activities for shelf stable
products, you will also be
required to attend the two-week shelf
stable FSRE training. If you successfully completed some or
all of
the required training
previously, the number of weeks required may
be adjusted. You must begin the
training within 90 days of the
effective date of your
selection, and you must successfully complete
it within 12 months of the
effective date of your selection.
Failure to successfully complete
the training may result in removal
from Federal Service.
This position requires a
Pre-Employment Physical.
The duties of a Consumer Safety
Inspector are performed in a
hazardous working environment.
Therefore, applicants must be
physically and mentally able to
efficiently perform the job
functions, without hazard to
themselves and others. Specifically,
full range of motion is required
for rapid repetitive twisting and
working with arms above shoulder
level as well as standing and
walking on slippery and uneven
floors and catwalks, and climbing
stairs and ladders. Applicants
must be able to lift, carry, push and
pull up to 44 pounds. Manual
dexterity of the upper body, including
arms, hands, and fingers with a
normal sense of touch in both hands
is mandatory. In addition,
applicants must be free of chronic eye
disease, have good near and
distance vision and have the ability to
distinguish shades of color. Any
significant degree of color
blindness (25 percent or more
error rate on approved color plate
test) is disqualifying. The
ability to hear and understand
conversational voice is
required. The above requirements are not all
inclusive.
Background
Investigation/Suitability:
Selectee will be subject to
receiving a satisfactory background
investigation, and will also
need to complete an OF-306, Declaration
for Federal Employment prior to
appointment to determine suitability
for federal employment. This
document asks for disclosure of
information relating to arrests,
employment terminations, and
other suitablitiy issues.
Conflict of Interest:
In addition, the selectee will
need to provide a signed conflict of
interest statement. Conflict of
interest rules prohibit an
appointment to a position at an
establishment where an individual
has been previously employed for
more than 90 days during the
preceding year. There are
several other types of conflict of
interest situations explained in
detail on the form given to
selectees.
FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES ALL
EMPLOYERS TO VERIFY THE IDENTITY AND
EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY OF ALL
PERSONS HIRED TO WORK IN THE UNITED
STATES. FSIS utilizes E-Verify to verify
identity and employment
eligibility by providing to the
Social Security Administration (SSA)
and, if necessary the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS)
information from each new
employee's Form I-9 to confirm work
authorization. E-Verify cannot be used to pre-screen
job applicants
or to re-verify current
employees and may not limit or influence the
choice of documents presented
for use on the Form I-9. If you
have
concern that there has been a
violation of the E-Verify program or
you feel you have been
discriminated during the verification process
based on your national origin or
citizenship status, contact the
Office of Special Counsel at
1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).
For more information on E-Verify
you may contact DHS at 1-888-464-
4218.
Completed applications for this
vacancy must be received no later
than midnight, U.S. Eastern time
zone, on the closing date. If
applying on-line poses a
hardship to any applicant, the contact
listed on the announcement will
provide assistance to help you
apply, or provide alternative
methods.
Applicants may contact the
servicing human resources office during
their core business hours (8:00
am to 3:30 pm central time) prior to
the closing date to speak with
someone who can provide assistance
for on-line application.
EEO/DIVERSITY POLICY:
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination
in all its programs and
activities on the basis of race, color,
national origin, age, disability
and where applicable, sex, marital
status, familial status,
parental status, religion, sexual
orientation, genetic information
political beliefs, reprisal, or
because all or part of an
individual's income is derived from any
public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all
programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means
for communication of program
information (Braille, large print,
audiotape, etc.,) should contact
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-
2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination,
write
to USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue,
W.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800)795-3272
(voice) or
(202)720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider
and
employer.
This Agency provides reasonable
accommodation to applicants with
disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation
for any part
of the application process,
please notify the Agency prior to the
closing date. Decisions on granting reasonable
accommodation will
be on a case-by-case basis.
How To Apply:
1. Answers to all core questions
(Completed when registering on-line
in USAJOBS as part of the
initial application process)
2. Answers to all
vacancy-specific questions (Completed for each
job)
3. Your on-line resume. Resumes are entered into USAJOBS. Resumes
can be copied and pasted into
the personal information area of your
application from other word
processing documents at any time prior
to the closing date.
4. Any supplemental(supporting)documents
needed.
Applicants who do not respond to
the on-line vacancy questions and
who do not submit a supporting
on-line resume will be rated
ineligible.
Required Documents:
If qualifying based on
education, you must submit your transcripts
and/or course slips. These items should include course
title,
school name/location, date
completed, grade, and number of credits.
If you claim CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, please
provide a copy of your
most recent performance
appraisal (at least 'fully successful' or
equivalent); and proof of
eligibility, i.e., a RIF separation
notice, Certification of
Expected Separation, and a SF-50, noting
current position, grade level,
and duty location.
If you claim Veteran Preference please
provide a copy of your DD-214
showing a honorable discharge.
For veterans receiving compensation
please provide SF-15 and supporting
documentation from the VA along
with your DD-214.
Supporting documentation should
be sent using the fax imaging
instructions after you have
applied for the vacancy announcement.
Faxing Supporting Documentation:
The next step of the application process
is to fax all the required
supporting documentation
specified in the Required Documents section
of this vacancy announcement.
You do not need to have all of your
supporting documentation
submitted in order to continue with the
online portion of the
application process. Please
carefully follow
the instructions below to ensure
your supporting documents are
properly faxed and
received. All required documents
must be
received by midnight Eastern
Time on the closing date of the vacancy
announcement.
***NOTE! Not all of the document
types listed will pertain to you;
only submit documents needed to
complete YOUR application package.
This announcement is opened to a
variety of applicants.
DD Form 214 (Military Discharge
Papers and Separation Documents) The
Defense Department issues to
each veteran a DD-214, identifying the
veteran's condition of discharge
- honorable, general, other than
honorable, dishonorable or bad
conduct. (This document is needed if
claiming veteran's preference when
applying for announcements that
is opened to "All US
Citizens," or applying under VEOA or VRA.
Current FSIS employees must also
provide this documentation when
applying to announcements opened
to "All U.S. Citizens." For more
information go to
http://www.opm.gov/veterans/html/vetsInfo.asp
SF-15 (Application for 10 Veterans Preference) the
information on
this form, along with any
accompanying required documents, will be
used to determine whether you
are entitled to 10-point veterans'
preference.
VA Ltr (An official statement
from the Department of Veterans
Affairs certifying to the
present existence of the veterans service-
connected disability.)
SF-50 - (Notification of
Personnel Action) Current or former Federal
employees must submit a copy of
most recent SF-50, "Notification of
Personnel Action",
reflecting grade, title, series, and annual pay.
Current FSIS employees do not
need to provide these documents in
order to be considered for
vacancy announcements.
College Transcripts -
Transcripts are required only if applying to
positions with a positive
education requirement. Please look
at
the "Qualifications"
portion of the vacancy announcement to see if
education is required. If education is required, your
transcripts
and or course slip must include
course title, school name/location,
date completed, grade, and
number of credits.
Schedule A Certification - If
applying for the position under a
Schedule A appointment, applicants
must provide proof of their
disability by submitting
documentation. For more information go to
http://www.opm.gov/disability/appointment_disabilities.asp
ICTAP/CTAP - Career Transition
Assistance Plan (CTAP), Interagency
Career Transition Assistance
Plan (ICTAP). If you claim CTAP/ICTAP
eligibility, please provide a
copy of your most recent performance
appraisal (at least "fully
successful" or equivalent), and proof of
eligibility, i.e., a RIF
separation notice or Certification of
Expected Separation and a SF-50 noting current position, grade
level, and duty location. Click
here: for more information or go to
http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#cts
Performance Appraisal: A performance Appraisal is not needed
if you
are a current FSIS employee or
if you are a non-federal government
employee.
FAX INSTRUCTIONS:
1. If you have previously faxed supporting
documentation the status
of those documents will indicate
Received. There is no need
to resubmit documents which show
a status of received unless you are
submitting an updated copy. (If a document is resubmitted, it
replaces the previous
submission, which means the previous document
is no longer available to the
human resources office. If you are
adding to, rather than
replacing, a previous submission, you must
fax both the old document and
the new document for them both to be
accessible to HR.)
2. You must use a separate cover sheet for
each category of
supporting documentation (i.e.,
transcripts, SF-50, DD-214). Choose
the document cover sheet(s) you
would like to print by selecting the
appropriate check boxes in the
Selected Documents column.
3. Click the [Print Cover Sheets] button.
A window will pop up
containing the fax cover
sheet(s) you selected. Print the
coversheet
(s). NOTE: You must be connected to a
printer in order to
print the coversheets. Additionally, you must allow pop-ups.
4. Once you have reviewed the list of
documents and printed any
required fax cover sheets click
on [Done]. You will be moved
forward in the application
process.
5. Before faxing your document(s), take
care to ensure the document
is legible and all information
is complete and signed, if
necessary. Fax only documents which are clear and
legible.
Original documents with light or
faded print and/or dark or
patterned backgrounds will not
be legible upon receipt. Illegible
faxed documents cannot be used
for qualification or verification
purposes.
6. Place the corresponding cover sheet on
top of the document and
fax the cover sheet and document
together to the fax number
specified on the cover
sheet. NOTE: If you are faxing
documents from more than one
category of supporting documentation,
you must submit them with the
appropriate cover sheet. EACH
DOCUMENT TYPE MUST BE FAXED
SEPARATELY under its corresponding
cover sheet. DO NOT FAX ALL
DOCUMENTS TYPES UNDER ONE COVER
SHEET. (i.e., Transcripts are one type of
document; fax all
pages of your transcript and
other education-related documents under
the transcript cover sheet; the SF-50 is another document type,
if
you are faxing more than one SF-50, fax them all under the SF-50
cover sheet.)
7. Be sure to save these cover sheets in
the event you need to re-
fax your supporting
documents. Each fax transmission
includes a
unique identification number and
bar code, which ensures your
document is processed correctly.
8. You will receive an e-mail confirming
the fax has been
successfully received by Human
Resources. You should retain your e-
mail confirmation and
confirmation of your fax transmittal report as
proof of submission.
Your application will be
considered incomplete and YOU WILL BE
FOUND INELIGIBLE if you fail to
submit the required
documentation as specified under
the required documents section by
midnight Eastern Time on the
closing date of the vacancy
announcement.
Contact Information:
Shannon
Sarbo
Phone: 612-659-8564
Fax: 612-370-2376
TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: Shannon.Sarbo@fsis.usda.gov
Or write:
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA
Human Resources Field Office
Butler Square West, Suite 420C
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Fax: 612-370-2376
What To Expect Next:
You may check your status on
USAJOBS. Applications are reviewed
after the announcement closing
date and the best qualified
candidates are referred to the
selection official for further
consideration and possible
interview. We expect a selection
will
be made within 45 days of the
closing date of this announcement.
The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the
basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political
affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age,
membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.
Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with
disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable
accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should
contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for
reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Send Mail to:
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA
Human Resources Field Office
Butler Square West, Suite 420C
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Fax: 612-370-2376
For questions about this job:
Shannon Sarbo
Phone: 612-659-8564
Fax: 612-370-2376
TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: Shannon.Sarbo@fsis.usda.gov
Control Number: 1551506
|
