|
Department: Department Of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Sub Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA
Job Announcement Number:
FSIS-MMP-2009-0233
Food Inspector (Imports) GS-1863-7/8/9
Salary Range: 39,086.00 - 62,158.00 USD per year
Open Period: Friday, December 12, 2008
to Friday, December 26, 2008
Series & Grade: GS-1863-07/09
Position Information: Full-time Permanent
Promotion Potential: 09
Duty Locations: 1 vacancy - Philadelphia, PA
Who May Be Considered:
Current
FSIS Employees Nationwide and USDA Career
Transition
Eligibles (CTAP).
Job Summary:
This
is an excellent opportunity for those seeking
a
greater challenge and responsibility in a position directly
involved
in protecting public health. Here's what to expect:
This
position is located in the Office of International Affairs,
Import
Inspection Division. This position
is located at or near a
large
port of entry where diversified quantities of meat and meat
and
poultry products are imported into the United States.
Key Requirements:
- Please register with
USAJOBS! FSIS is integrated with the USAJOBS system.
- FSIS utilizes
E-VERIFY to verify identity and employment eligibility.
Major Duties:
As
a Food Inspector (Imports), here are some of the duties you will
be
assigned to do:
Major
Duties:
You will be responsible for
assuring that products approved
for
import are in full compliance with all applicable Federal
regulations
governing the importation of meat and poultry products.
You will be responsible for
verifying the accuracy of labels
and
foreign health certificates and examining products and
containers
to determine if the product is sound, wholesome,
unadulterated,
and meets U.S.
requirements.
You will have the authority
to refuse entry of any meat or
poultry
or meat or poultry products which in your judgment violates
any
of the requirements for admission into this country, and also to
authorize
entry of all products considered to comply with Federal
regulations.
You will issue notification
to customs, brokers, imports,
etc.,
if products that are refused for entry and you will assure
that
such products are controlled and properly secure
You will be responsible for
applying heightened observation
skills
to increase scrutiny for evidence of unusual activity related
to
food safety/security in the event of a declared or perceived
threat
to the homeland security.
You may perform domestic inspection
on cross utilization
basis
with the Office of Field Operations (OFO).
As such, you will
verify
regulatory compliance with the full range of Sanitation
Standard
Operating Procedures (SSOP) and Hazard Analysis Critical
Control
Point (HACCP) food safety and other inspection requirements
involving
slaughter and/or processed products depending upon the
specific
plant(s) in the assignment.
Qualifications:
For
the Food Inspector (Imports) positions, there are two
basic
components of your experience that together define the
qualifications.
These components are:
Time-in-Grade
and
Specialized
Experience
Time-in-Grade:
In
order to meet time-in-grade, you will need to have
completed
52 weeks at the next lower grade level within 30 days of
the
closing date of this announcement.
Specialized
Experience:
In
order to meet the specialized experience
requirement,
you will need to have completed 52 weeks of
progressively
responsible specialized experience at the next lower
grade
level within 30 days after the closing date of this
announcement. Specialized experience is experience
working with the
Federal
Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products Inspection Acts in order to
inspect
meat, poultry and egg products. This experience also
includes
working with basic SSOP and HACCP principles and practices
in
order to verify plant HACCP and SSOP responsibilities, performing
basic
mathematic and elementary statistical concepts and methods to
perform
testing and sampling procedures and experience in reaching
and
interpreting conclusions.
-
How You Will Be Evaluated:
HOW
WILL MY TOTAL APPLICATION BE EVALUATED?
There
are several parts of the application process that affect the
overall
evaluation of your application: the applicant assessment
questions,
the core questions and your resume. This automated
application
system simplifies the application process by replacing
the
former KSA job-element questions with the
on-line applicant
assessment
questions. Your resume is an
integral part of the
processfor
determining if you meet the basic qualifications of the
position
and whether you are found to be best qualified. It is
therefore
important to explain what you did and how you did it,
rather
than just listing your current and former employers.
Applicants
are evaluated in accordance with Merit Staffing
procedures
which govern Status candidates. All are rated on the
extent
and quality of experience, education and training relevant to
the
duties of the position. An automated
scoring system based on
the
on-line 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:
You
may participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits
program,
with costs shared with your employer. More info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#FEHB.
Life
insurance coverage is provided. More info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#life
New
employees are automatically covered by the Federal Employees
Retirement
System (FERS). If you are transferring from another
agency
and covered by CSRS, you may continue in this program. More
info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#retr
You
will earn annual vacation leave. More info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#VACA
You
will earn sick leave. More info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#SKLV
You
will be paid for federal holidays that fall within your
regularly
scheduled tour of duty. More info:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#HOLI
Other Information:
Condition
of Employment: This position
requires a National Security
clearance. Therefore, as a condition of continued
employment, the
incumbent must successfully
complete a background investigation with
a
favorable adjudication. Failure to
successfully meet these
requirements
could lead to adverse action proceedings including
possible
termination.
NOTE: Entitlement to the payment of relocation
expenses will be
determined
in accordance with the provisions outlined
in
FSIS Directive 3820.2.
Multiple
selections: This announcement may be used to fill
additional,
like vacancies should any occur in the announced duty
location.
If
selection is made below GS-9, promotion to that level may be made
without
further competition.
The
law prohibits political recommendation for employment or other
personnel
actions (including promotion, reassignment, detail, etc.)
in
the competitive service. Federal
agencies may not accept or
consider
such recommendations (either oral or written) from members
of
Congress, elected State and local government officials, political
party
officials, or others based on political affiliation.
Salaries
in some locations may be higher than the salary listed in
this
announcement due to locality pay.
For a listing of locality
pay
areas, pay tables and counties within the
locality
pay areas: http://www.opm.gov/index.asp
EEO/DIVERSITY
POLICY:
The
USDA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and 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.
This
Agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants
with
disabilities. If you need a
reasonable accommodation
for
any part of the application and hiring process, please
notify
the agency. Decisions on granting
reasonable
accommodation
will be on a case-by-case basis.
To
file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director,
Office
of Civil Rights, 1400
Independence Ave. SW, Washington,
DC
20250-9410
or call (800)795-3272 (voice) or (202)720-6382 (TDD).
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.
How To Apply:
COMPLETED
ON-LINE APPLICATION INCLUDES:
Registration
with USAJOBS, including answering any questions and
submitting
an on-line resume with USAJOBS.
Answers
to all vacancy-specific questions (Completed for each job).
Answers
to core questions the first time you apply to our upgraded
system.
Applicants
who do not respond to the on-line vacancy questions and
who
do not submit a supporting resume will be rated ineligible.
Applicants
can check their general status, as it is updated by going
to
USAJOBS. Because of these
capabilities, the Human Resources
Division
will no longer send email or hardcopy notifications ("non-
select
letters") to applicants regarding the outcome of on-line FSJO
vacancy
announcements.
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
person
listed on the announcement will provide assistance to help
you
apply or provide alternative methods. Applicants may contact the
servicing
human resources office during core business hours(8:00
a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. central time) prior to the closing date.
Required Documents:
WHAT
OTHER DOCUMENTS ARE NEEDED?
CURRENT
FSIS EMPLOYEES DO NOT NEED TO FAX or MAIL ADDITIONAL
DOCUMENTS
FOR THIS VACANCY. (such as SF-50, Transcripts, Performance
Appraisals,
DD214)
If
you claim CTAP 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.
If
hard copy documents are being submitted by you for career
transition
assistance, the documents must be received via fax during
the
USAJOBS registration process.
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.
***Not
all of the document types listed will pertain to you; only
submit
documents needed to complete your application package. For
example,
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.
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 both of them 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 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:
Keith McFarlin
Phone: 800-370-3747
Fax: 612-370-2377
TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: keith.mcfarlin@fsis.usda.gov
Or write:
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA
Human Resources Field Office
Butler Square West, Suite 420C
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Fax: 612-370-2377
What To Expect Next:
After
the position closes, qualifications are evaluated. The best
qualified
and non-competitive candidates are referred to the
selecitng
official for consideration.
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: 612-370-2377
For questions about this job:
Keith McFarlin
Phone: 800-370-3747
Fax: 612-370-2377
TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: keith.mcfarlin@fsis.usda.gov
Control Number: 1421293
|
