This position is located in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Plains Area, Soil Management and Sugar Beet Research Unit, located in Fort Collins, CO. In this position, you will coordinate field and laboratory research that investigates and analyzes soil, plant, or waters samples. Additionally, you will manage research activities required to evaluate the performance of crop production systems.

Duties

Use lab equipment to perform experiments, including flow injector analyzers. Coordinate and organize the collection, preparation, and implementation of soil, plant, and water samples for laboratory analysis. Coordinate the transport and use of field machinery and instrumentation between major cropland research stations and farms. Communicate orally or in writing to provide summaries of experimental results, coordinate activities, and preparing scientific reports or manuscripts.

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.
• 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/
• Maintain and hold a pesticide applicators license.

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: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level to be considered for the next higher grade. Basic Requirements Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND In addition to meeting the basic education requirements listed above, all applicants must meet the following minimum qualification requirements Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position, and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience includes: participating in the development of experimental protocols for agricultural research; maintaining equipment or instrumentation or performing routine maintenance as necessary; participating in field and laboratory research involving the collection of soil, plant, or water samples; and organizing detailed records of operations, experiments, or data according to guidelines. OR Education: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Related degrees may include Environmental Science, Data Science, Data Management or Bioinformatics. OR A combination of Ph.D. level education and specialized experience as described above. Selective Placement Factor(s): In addition to the minimum qualification requirements above, this position has a selective placement factor (SPF). Selective Placement Factors are special requirements, in addition to the minimum requirements, that are essential in successfully performing the duties of this job. If a copy of the required license (SPF) is not provided with your application package, you will not receive further consideration under this announcement. Possess a commercial driver's license (Class A with Hazmat endorsement) 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

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

Contacts

• Address Agricultural Research Service 2150 Centre Avenue Building D, Suite 300 Fort Collins, CO 80526 US
• Name: Megan Lawrence
• Phone: 571-363-3295
• Email: Megan.Lawrence@usda.gov