Serves as the National Soil Scientist and Associate Director for Strategic Involvement in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil and Plant Science Division (SPSD). The incumbent provides national technical leadership and management oversight to the SPSD Strategic Involvement Branch under the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). The incumbent is responsible for the overall administration of the program.

Duties

Provides leadership in the development of innovative applications of soils data and related information to facilitate SPSD mission areas. Provides technical management oversight to State Soil Scientists (SSSs) and Resource Soil Scientists (RSSs) nationwide. Develops and implements relevant technical training for agency and partner staff to enhance knowledge and skills related to the regional and local application of soils information pertinent to natural resource concerns. Responsible for leading, managing, guiding, and directing relevant collaborative activities with national, regional, state, and local internal staff from multiple NRCS divisions. Plans, directs and evaluates work of professional, technical, and administrative subordinate staff. Manages and executes budgetary and resource allocations, ensures proper workflow integration, conducts management workforce analysis, and performs any other associated program management responsibilities. Sets national priorities for information development and dissemination to efficiently and effectively manage various resource allocations. Assigns work based on priorities and difficulty of assignment and capabilities of employees; reviews work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and assures that production accuracy requirements are met. Responsible for the overall administration of the program and coordinates the provisions of SPSD assistance to internal and external customers. Provides authoritative technical information on all aspects of program operations. Initiates and organizes advisory groups as necessary to determine technical support needs, exchanges highly complex information.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• 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 E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.
• Position has a Confidential Financial Disclosure (Form OGE-450) requirement. If selected, you will be required to submit Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Basic Qualifications: Must have a bachelor's or higher degree in soil science or a closely related discipline that included 30 semester hours or equivalent in biological, physical, or earth science, with a minimum of 15 semester hour in such subjects as soil genesis, pedology, soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil fertility. (You must submit transcripts.) In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered: Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-15 level, you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. specialized experience is defined as: Demonstrate experience in providing leadership and coordination of regional or state soil survey program. Experience with developing detailed plans, goals, strategies, and/or objectives for long-range implementation of the organization's programs, experience in developing and managing budget plans, and experience working with soil survey partnerships. Initiate, formulate and recommend policy, legislative and regulatory changes in administration. Develop and maintain strategic plan to include inventory on lands, and development of customer. Note: There is no education substitution for the GS-15 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

You must submit a copy of your transcripts to include course number, title, completion and grade. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement.

Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information.

Failure to provide all of the required documents/information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Herbert Brooks
• Phone: 000-000-0000
• Email: [email protected]