Summary
In this position, you will be protecting agriculture, property, natural resources (including rare or special species), and reducing conflicts that jeopardize human health and safety. The overall goal of the position is to develop statistical decision-support tools for the feral swine and wildlife disease management of Wildlife Services.
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Duties
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- The duties described are for the full-performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity.
- The duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Develop practical advanced statistical modeling and data science tools for evaluation of management actions, planning management, reporting outcomes, and improving our understanding of ecological factors affecting management effectiveness.
- Manage independently or in consultation with supervisor multiple data science projects related to wildlife disease and damage research and management.
- Develop and contribute ideas that will establish new research directions within the scope of the agency.
- Collaborate with Wildlife Services operations to: 1) understand management challenges, 2) provide evaluation of management outcomes, 3) develop data science tools for reporting and planning.
- Work closely with the supervisor and stakeholders to communicate progress and results internally and in peer-reviewed journals.
Requirements
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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. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
- 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/
- Selectee will be subject to a pre-employment medical statement and/or exam.
- All USDA employees are required to be enrolled in Continuous Vetting, which authorizes government agencies to receive notifications of criminal activity on individuals who hold low risk, public trust, or national security positions.
- May be required to receive pre-exposure and post-exposure vaccinations to prevent contacting preventable diseases.
- Work may occasionally be performed in field or captive pen environments.
- May travel occasionally to visit field sites, discuss collaborative research and present findings at conferences and meetings.
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 REQUIREMENT for 0401 Series: 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 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
BASIC REQUIREMENT for 1529 Series: Degree: that included 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, of which at least 12 semester hours were in mathematics and 6 semester hours were in statistics.
OR Combination of education and experience: at least 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, including at least 12 hours in mathematics and 6 hours in statistics, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
FOR THE GS-12 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-11 grade level) that demonstrates:
- Communicates technical information both orally and in writing to stakeholders for collaborative development of research or software development projects.
- Develops data pipelines for extracting environmental data (e.g., GIS rasters, satellite imagery/remote sensing, landcover, weather/meteorological data) with automated post-processing for inputs into downstream modeling or visualizations.
- Builds custom statistical (prefer hierarchical statistical models using Bayesian techniques) models or computational biology models, or bioinformatic and phylogenetic workflows using computer programming.
- Develops machine learning or artificial intelligence models for image processing or predicting ecological or epidemiological processes.
- Uses programming languages in at least two data science areas such as: statistics (e.g., C++, python, or R), software or web application development (e.g., JavaScript or HTML), database management (e.g., SQL), managing HPC workflows (e.g., SLURM) or cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level.
TRANSCRIPTS are required if:
- This position requires specific coursework or a degree in a specific field to be basically qualified.
- You are qualifying for this position based on a combination of experience and education.
- This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university.
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.
Additional information
- Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be well qualified, which means having knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or competencies that exceed the minimum qualification requirements for this position. CTAP/ICTAP applicants may be required to take a manual assessment and must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.
- First time hires to the federal government normally start at the lowest rate of the salary range for the grade selected.
- Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid. Any travel, transportation, and relocation expense associated with reporting for duty will be the responsibility of the selected employee.
- Locality pay will vary based upon the selectee's duty location. A final salary determination will be made upon selection.
- Promotion Potential: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
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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.