Veterinary Medical Officer (District Veterinary Medical Officer)
About This Position
This position is in the Raleigh District and serves as primary contact for all veterinary duties associated with food safety, animal welfare, foreign animal disease surveillance, ante-mortem and postmortem procedures and dispositions, and export certification. Shifts and species vary based on assignment For information contact Laura Hutchison, (919) 214-1984, [email protected] Employee may be detailed to any shift at any plant in the Raleigh District
Qualifications
Please reference the specific Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualifications standards for the 0701 Job Series.
You must meet the following eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the announcement: Time in grade: You must have completed one year at the GS-12 grade to meet the time-in-grade requirement. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade. Qualifying experience includes: Performing, planning or managing veterinary medical activities Applying and enforcing policies, practices, and regulations Knowledge of veterinary medical concepts, scientific literature, and emerging issues related to food safety Coordinating new or revised veterinary medical policies, methods, or procedures Interpreting and applying the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of an inspection program that includes humane handling antemortem, and postmortem inspection procedures conducted in slaughter establishments Reviewing Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans or Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) Establishing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
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.
Major Duties
Interpret and analyze guidelines and regulations
Implement guidelines, policies, and regulations to provide personnel support
Conduct research and investigations to make judgments and recommendations
Foster working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
Communicate guidelines and processes to plant personnel
Draft recommendations, reports, and guidance documents
Apply veterinary medical concepts, principles, and practices
Perform routine onsite humane handling and good commercial practices
Education
In addition to the specialized experience requirement, you must meet the following basic education requirement to qualify for this position. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a school or college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA). The AVMA website has a listing of all AVMA-accredited veterinary medical schools.
Graduates of foreign veterinary medical schools that are not accredited by the AVMA Council on Education (Refer to AVMA web site, http://www.avma.org(external link)for information about schools in this category) must meet one of the requirements in the Office of Personnel Management's qualifications standard for the Veterinary Medical Science Series 0701: Veterinary Medical Science Series 0701 You must submit transcripts with your application.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement.
Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.
You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Decision Making Oral Communication Organizational Awareness Technical Competence (Veterinary) Written Communication Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.
You must complete all required steps in the application process.
In addition to the application and assessment questionnaire, this position requires a preliminary resume and education review to evaluate competencies and education required to perform the job. The experience and education described on your resume must be accurate and sufficiently detailed information to clearly demonstrate that you have the listed competencies. All information used to evaluate your application must be received by the closing date of the announcement.
No documents can be accepted once the announcement closes. If we determine that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow instructions carefully.
Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to and including removal from Federal service. To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12936460 The preview does not initiate the application process.
To begin the application, click the "Apply" button.
Additional Information
Applicants must: Be physically and medically able to efficiently perform the essential job functions, without being a direct threat to themselves and others. Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level. Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climbing stairs and ladders.
Be able to lift, carry, push and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds. Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers with a normal sense of touch in both hands. Have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease and have correctable vision of at least 20/40 in one eye.
Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (more than 25 percent error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying. Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP or RPL eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section.
When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments.
Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision.
You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
How to Apply
Read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. 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 p.m. (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. It may take up to two (2) 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.
In most cases, your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year 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 resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.
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: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/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. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00 p.m., ET, Monday - Friday).
If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request an RA. Alternative Methods for Applying: If you are unable to apply using the internet, please fax your request for an application package along with your name and mailing address to HR: 1-833-840-9219. 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.
Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.
Required Documents
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Resume Your resume cannot be longer than two pages and must include the following: Personal information: name, address, contact information Education Work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications.
Your application may be disqualified if you include any of the information listed here: What should I leave out of my resume? If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of all relevant college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty.
Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards.
There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation, and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
Current and former Federal employees: Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service, highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade AND Most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute. Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP or RPL priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.