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Job Title: Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) 5 / 7 – Philadelphia, PA

Department: Department Of Agriculture

Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service

Sub Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

Job Announcement Number: FSIS-MCE-2011-0164

SALARY RANGE:	$33,408.00 - $53,802.00 /year
OPEN PERIOD:	Tuesday, August 16, 2011 to Monday, August 22, 2011
SERIES & GRADE:	GS-1862-05/07
POSITION INFORMATION:	Full-time Permanent
PROMOTION POTENTIAL:	09
DUTY LOCATIONS:	1 vacancy(s) in one of the following locations: Philadelphia, PA
WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED:	All current U.S. Citizens; current or former Federal employment is not required.

JOB SUMMARY:

This position has promotion potential to the GS-8/9 level.

Establishment 09434: European American Sausage Co.

Shift: 1st shift, 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday - Friday

Position rotates with Yeadon, Bensalem, and Upper Darby, PA.

Training as Condition of Employment (TCOE) is a requirement for this position.

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:

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.

*The "Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008", also referred to as
the "2008 Farm Bill", was signed into Law on June 18, 2008. The
Farm Bill amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) to include
Catfish as an amenable species under the Act.

If you are found to be one of the top quality candidates or a non-competitive referral and will be referred to the selecting official for job consideration, you may be asked to develop a written response to narrative/essay type questions in the second round of the application process. If this applies to you, you will be contacted by an agency representative. Please keep your records updated with your current email address.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

This announcement may be used to fill additional like vacancies.
FSIS UTILIZES E-VERIFY TO VERIFY IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY.
Current U.S. citizenship required for this position.
Relocation expenses will not be paid.

Duties

Additional Duty Location Info:

Philadelphia, PA

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 and Evaluations

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

There are several ways that you can meet the basic qualification
requirements for the Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) trainee
position. They are:

1. Specialized 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.

1. Specialized Experience: To qualify based only on specialized experience, you must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the experience that would have been gained if working in this position or 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.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

Applicants are evaluated in accordance with Delegated Examining
Procedures using Category Rating. All applicants are rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position. If qualified, you will be placed into a quality category based on how well your background demonstrates the following competencies: Language (ie. Written Communication), Mathematics (ie. Basic Statistics), Information Processing (ie. Technical Comprehension), Analytical (ie. Problem Solving), Communication (ie. Providing and Receiving Feedback), Personal Characteristics (ie. Integrity). An automated rating system, based on the online 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. Your resume must thoroughly support your responses to the applicant assessment questions. High self-assessment in the applicant questions that is not supported by information in your resume may eliminate you from best-qualified status and subsequent referral to the selecting official.

If you are found to be one of the top quality candidates or are eligible for special hiring authorities and will be referred to the selecting official for job consideration, you may be asked to develop a written response to narrative/essay type questions in the second round of the application process. If this applies to you, you will be contacted by an agency representative. Please keep your records updated with your current email address.

The automated system will place applicants in categories based on their responses to the online job related assessment questions, which are based on the duties and competencies required of the position. These categories are qualified, well qualified, and best qualified. Best qualified is the top category. Veterans who meet qualification requirements and have adjudicated veterans preference will be placed at the top of the category they fall into based on their answers to the assessment questions; this could be one of several categories, however, non-veterans cannot be selected over veterans that are in the same category. Only candidates in the top category are referred to the selecting official, unless categories are merged. Preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability (CP/CPS) are placed at the top of the highest quality category (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Adjudicated veterans are those who meet the requirements for preference and submit legible documentation by the closing date of the announcement. A member 4 copy of the DD-214 must be submitted, or a letter from the Veterans Administration specifying eligibility as a disabled veteran, and in either case, documents must specify discharge under honorable conditions. For disabled veterans, the SF-15 is requested; in the absence of an SF-15, the VA letter specifying eligibility for preference and discharge under honorable conditions is sufficient, assuming all requirements for preference are met. For positions other than professional and scientific at or equivalent to the GS-9 level or higher, qualified CPS and CP preference eligibles are placed at the top of the highest quality category. For professional and scientific positions at or equivalent to the GS-9 level or higher, qualified CPS and CP preference eligibles are placed at the top of the appropriate quality category for which rated.
To preview questions please click here.

Benefits and Other Info

BENEFITS:

The Federal government offers a number of exceptional benefits to its employees. For an overview of all the benefits programs please click this link.

OTHER INFORMATION:

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.

RELOCATION EXPENSES WILL NOT BE PAID.

Additional positions within this rotation assignment, which includes the duty stations of Yeadon, Bensalem, and Upper Darby, PA, may be filled from this vacancy announcement.

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 online 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 online application.

EEO/DIVERSITY POLICY:

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor. 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.

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.

How To Apply

HOW TO APPLY:

Please read the entire announcement carefully and take note of any education, qualification, rating factors, and job-related questions or specific duties that are listed.

Are you new to the Government application process? Are you a Current or Former Federal Employee with questions? An applicant who is eligible to apply under a Special Hiring Authority? We want to make certain all of you have an opportunity to be considered so please review the following link in order to make sure you have submitted your application properly! For additional information please visit the USAJobs Info Center.

Go to the USAJOBS website to create a resume. Follow the online instructions. Extensive help is available online from the USAJOBS site. Our application system is integrated with USAJOBS.

You must begin the application process online at USAJobs. Submitting
a USAJobs resume, responses to the basic qualifications, online
vacancy questions and any supporting documents required to complete
your application.

Completed applications include:

1. Answers to all core questions (completed when registering online in USAJOBS and as part of the initial application process).

2. Answers to all vacancy-specific questions (Completed for each
job)

3. Your online 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. Your resume must include the number of hours that you worked per week, the start date (MM/YY) and end date (MM/YY) of the position(s) you held, job title, name of employer, and a description of the duties that you preformed for all positions listed in your resume. This information is needed in order to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position.

4. Via fax imaging or uploading, providing any supplemental documents needed.

Announcement closes on midnight eastern time of the closing date.

Applicants who do not respond to the online vacancy questions and
who do not submit supporting resumes or supporting documents 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. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted at this time. However, if selected you must provide a copy of your official transcripts before starting work in the position.

Individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85 or above on the rating criteria for this position. For those instances where the best qualified lists include applicants with scores less than 85, the well-qualified score becomes the lowest score on the best qualified list. CTAP and ICTAP eligible's must submit a copy of your most recent performance appraisal (at least "fully successful" or equivalent) and one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) noting current position (or position at separation), grade level, and duty location or equivalent that documents separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456. Click here: for more information.

If you are claiming eligibility for consideration under a
noncompetitive special hiring authority, you will need to provide
the appropriate supporting documentation to verify eligibility.

Veteran preference eligible's or veterans who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after at least three consecutive years of active duty military service may also be considered. A DD-214 that includes beginning and ending dates of service and character of discharge (Member Copy 4) must be submitted to verify eligibility. Click here: for more information.

Supporting documentation should be sent using the fax imaging/uploading instructions after you have applied for the vacancy announcement.

Uploading/Faxing Supporting Documentation:

The next step of the application process is to upload or 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 uploaded/faxed and received. All required documents must be received by midnight Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

***Not all of the document types listed will pertain to you; only submit documents needed to complete your application package. For example, the Schedule A Certification document must only be submitted by individuals applying based on eligibility for appointment due to a disability. The SF-50 is a form current and former Federal employees submit to document their Federal employment status.

FOR INFORMATION ON UPLOADING DOCUMENTS, follow this link:Upload Information

. If you are unable to upload your documents, you may still fax your documents.

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 cover sheet(s). NOTE: You must be connected to a printer in order to print the cover sheets. 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.