This position is located in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in Columbia, SC. The incumbent assists the immediate staff, area offices, technical offices and field offices in all technical aspects of pasture, forage, and livestock management. This position also provides technical support for managing plant communities especially within pastures and other grasslands.

Duties

Provide statewide leadership, technical guidance, and training on grazing, forage, and livestock management related practices assigned for incorporation into conservation plans. Maintain a working relationship with other agencies and organizations having livestock and grassland management related interests and keeps abreast of research data. Assist with Pastureland National Resources Inventory program. Provide technical training to field and area level specialists to complete data gathering requirements. Assist with the development of Ecological Site Descriptions on pastures and other grasslands in the State. Gather, develop, and transfer information to the field offices on existing and new pasture management technologies necessary for meeting grazing objectives, controlling undesirable brush, and conserving soil and water.

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.

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. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Please note that this job opportunity announcement is only open to current Career/Career-Conditional employees of the USDA, CTAP/RPL and Farm Service Agency permanent county employees. If you do not possess this status, you will not receive consideration. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-9 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No Award or General Adjustment SF-50's will be accepted). Basic Requirement: Degree: Bachelor's or higher degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. (You must submit transcripts.) OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation. (You must submit transcripts.) In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered: To qualify at the GS-11 grade level, you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Helping senior staff and producers develop grazing, forage and livestock management plans; Incorporating livestock and grassland management methods and techniques into work assignments; and Suggesting solutions to problems related to livestock and grassland issues. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) OR Education: Must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. (You must submit transcripts.) OR Combination: Combination of the above described education and specialized experience such that they total 100% when combined. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then determine your education as a percentage of the education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent. (Only graduate level education in excess of two years (36 semester hours) may be combined with specialized experience. You must submit transcripts.) To qualify at the GS-12 grade level, you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Identifying problems and developing solutions to livestock and grassland issues; Providing guidance on grazing, forage, and livestock management practices; Incorporating livestock and grassland management methods and techniques into conservation plans and other work assignments; and Assisting with Ecological Site Descriptions or similar reports on pastures or other grasslands in a state. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) Note: There is no education substitution for the GS-12 level. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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. The OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series

Education

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). 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. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration.

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. Applicants must, therefore, only report attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation via this link. All education claimed by applicants will be verified accordingly. 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. Please check out the following link for more information Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov)

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Staff Acquisition
• Phone: 8164265706
• Email: [email protected]