Job Title

Summary The Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division is responsible for developing U.S. grade standards and providing inspection, grading, certification, and audit-based services nation-wide on a user-fee basis for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables and related products. The Assistant Branch Chief helps oversee federal inspection management operations of the corresponding region along with the Branch Chief. Learn more about this agency Help Overview * Accepting applications * Open & closing dates 06/11/2024 to 06/17/2024 * Salary $103,409 - $150,075 per year * Pay scale & grade GS 13 * Help Locations 1 vacancy in the following locations: * College Park, GA * Glen Ellyn, IL * South Bend, IN * San Antonio, TX * Show more locations (1) * Oshkosh, WI * Remote job No * Telework eligible Yes-as determined by the agency policy. * Travel Required 50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position. * Relocation expenses reimbursed Yes-You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy. * Appointment type Permanent * Work schedule Full-time * Service Competitive * Promotion potential 13 * Job family (Series) 1146 Agricultural Marketing * Supervisory status Yes * Security clearance Not Required * Drug test No * Position sensitivity and risk Moderate Risk (MR) * Trust determination process Credentialing Suitability/Fitness * Announcement number MP-12438852-24-SC * Control number 794940300 Help This job is open to * Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee. * Internal to an agency Current federal employees of this agency. Clarification from the agency Applications will be accepted only from current permanent AMS Specialty Crops employees with competitive status; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates. Help Duties * The duties may include, but are not limited to: * Facilitates the development and execution of the region-wide inspection and certification service for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, specialty crops, and related products. * Facilitates planning, formulating, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling the Division's region-wide inspection program. * Facilitates the promotion and direction of program operations within the region to ensure expeditious inspection service, uniform program operations. * Oversees along with the Branch Chief the development of policies, procedures, and instructions for performing inspection and certification. * Notifies field personnel of revised policies and procedures; advises stakeholders on specific problems or new developments. * Stays current on crop conditions, transportation facilities, shipping, packing, and processing methods, marketing practices, general economic conditions and other related information. * Responsible for funds obligated and expended in the execution of regional programs, maintenance of financial records and reports to justify expenditures. * Responsible for application of established policies with respect to personnel, fiscal and administrative matters. * Determines the immediate and long-range staffing requirements for carrying out inspection programs. Help Requirements Conditions of Employment * You must be a US Citizen or US National. * Individuals who were born male after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. * Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. * Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served. * Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period. * Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. * Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit * In accordance with Office of Government Ethics regulations concerning conflict of interest, the incumbent will be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of their effective date of appointment and annually thereafter. * Some physical exertion (e.g., to select samples during the course of an inspection). * Travel to field locations is required. Qualifications Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. FOR THE GS-13 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: * Applying policies and procedures of a complex national program related to agricultural products. * Applying grade standards, certification practices, and pertinent regulations of the fruit and vegetable industry. * Assisting in providing leadership, coordination, and direction of an agricultural focused program. * Communicating logically and concisely in both oral and written form when rendering decisions and/or interacting with management, employees and industry. * Developing new initiatives and processes when programs change. Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level. 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. Education This position does not have an education qualification requirement. Additional information * Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), 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 and all selective factors. CTAP 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. * Locality pay will vary based upon the selectee's duty location. A final salary determination will be made upon selection. * Worksite Information: This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements. Additional information regarding ad hoc, occasional, or reoccurring telework may be obtained at a later time from the hiring manager or program during the hiring process. Read more * Benefits Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered. 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 based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies listed below: * Accountability * Conflict Management * Customer Service * Developing Others * Human Capital Management * Leveraging Diversity * Specialty Crop/Fruit and Vegetable Grading Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities need only meet minimum qualifications to be referred. Note: If after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all 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 including removal from the Federal service. To preview the application questionnaire, please visit: * Benefits Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered. * Required Documents As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies. The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure or downtime, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. * Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information;2) education;3) detailed 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); 4) all supervisors' phone numbers and if they may be contacted; and 5) other qualifications. * Current and former career/career-conditional Federal employees: * Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service (block 24 must contain a 1 or 2 and block 34 must contain a 1), highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade. If your current grade is not your highest permanent grade, submit an additional SF-50 showing your highest grade. * 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 (e.g., length of time in current position). A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute. Screenshots or printouts of electronic systems, including eHR Apps (ePMA), will not be accepted unless it is of the actual appraisal form with the end-of-year rating summary. * 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), last performance appraisal, and the most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location. * How to Apply Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., 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 noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. NOTE: Please 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. Agency contact information MRP Human Resources Phone 612-336-3227 Email Address Agricultural Marketing Service USDA APHIS MRPBS 250 Marquette Avenue, Suite 410 Minneapolis, MN 55401 US Learn more about this agency Next steps Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to , subject line: Fair Chance Act. * Fair and Transparent The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance. * Criminal history inquiries * Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy * Financial suitability * New employee probationary period * Privacy Act * Reasonable accommodation policy * Selective Service * Signature and false statements * Social security number request Help Required Documents The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure or downtime, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. * Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information;2) education;3) detailed 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); 4) all supervisors' phone numbers and if they may be contacted; and 5) other qualifications. * Current and former career/career-conditional Federal employees: * Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service (block 24 must contain a 1 or 2 and block 34 must contain a 1), highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade. If your current grade is not your highest permanent grade, submit an additional SF-50 showing your highest grade. * 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 (e.g., length of time in current position). A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute. Screenshots or printouts of electronic systems, including eHR Apps (ePMA), will not be accepted unless it is of the actual appraisal form with the end-of-year rating summary. * 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), last performance appraisal, and the most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location. Help How to Apply Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., 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 noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. NOTE: Please 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. Read more Agency contact information MRP Human Resources Phone 612-336-3227 Email Address Agricultural Marketing Service USDA APHIS MRPBS 250 Marquette Avenue, Suite 410 Minneapolis, MN 55401 US Learn more about this agency Next steps Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to , subject line: Fair Chance Act. Read more Fair & Transparent The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance. * Criminal history inquiries * Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy * Financial suitability * New employee probationary period * Privacy Act * Reasonable accommodation policy * Selective Service * Signature and false statements * Social security number request Print Share * Email * Facebook * LinkedIn * Twitter Help Overview * Accepting applications * Open & closing dates 06/11/2024 to 06/17/2024 * Salary $103,409 - $150,075 per year * Pay scale & grade GS 13 * Locations 1 vacancy in the following locations: * College Park, GA * Glen Ellyn, IL * South Bend, IN * San Antonio, TX * Show more locations (1) * Oshkosh, WI * Remote job No * Telework eligible Yes-as determined by the agency policy. * Travel Required 50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position. * Relocation expenses reimbursed Yes-You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy. * Appointment type Permanent * Work schedule Full-time * Service Competitive * Promotion potential 13 * Job family (Series) 1146 Agricultural Marketing * Supervisory status Yes * Security clearance Not Required * Drug test No * Position sensitivity and risk Moderate Risk (MR) * Trust determination process Credentialing Suitability/Fitness * Announcement number MP-12438852-24-SC * Control number 794940300 This job originated on For the full announcement and to apply, visit Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at will be considered.