Agricultural Commodity Grader

Full Job Description

If selected for this position, you would performs the full range of meat grading and quality assurance monitoring duties, located at either a main station, substation, or other office locations which may involve details and/or reassignments to different geographical areas as needed and as determined by management.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

OR THE GS-05 LEVEL: General experience: Applicants must have three years of progressively responsible experience, one year of which was equivalent in level of difficulty and responsibility to the next lower level in the Federal Service (equivalent to the GS-04 level) (experience may have been obtained in private or public sectors).

The experience must demonstrate the ability to: - Identify problems, gather pertinent data or recognize solutions. - Plan and organize work. - Utilize office software such as: Adobe, Excel, Word.

Experience must provide evidence of the skills shown above. General clerical experience (typing, filing, routine processing, or other non-specialized repetitive tasks) is not creditable.

OR 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

FOR THE GS-07 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 grade level) that demonstrates: - Determining the grade, quality, acceptability, processing, packing, storage, and/or transportation of food grade product, refrigeration, processing, packing, storage, and transportation.

- Ensuring compliance with food grade and/or sanitation regulations in a processing plant, warehouse, livestock operation, food establishment, or similar workplace to determine quality against regulations and/or standards.

OR 1 full year of graduate level education in Agriculture, Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Business, Economics or a related field.

OR Superior Academic Achievement: To qualify based on superior academic achievement, you must have completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution AND 1) have a class standing in the upper third of the graduating class, 2) membership in a national scholastic honor society (excluding Freshman honor societies), or 3) must meet certain GPA requirements.

GPA requirements: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on official transcripts or as computed based on 4 years of education, or courses completed during the final 2 year of the curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required course completed in the major field or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum (GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, e.g., 2.95 rounds to 3.0 and 2.94 rounds to 2.9).

Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level. TRANSCRIPTS are required if: You are qualifying for the position based on education.

You are qualifying for this position based on a combination of experience and education. You are qualifying for this position based on Superior Academic Achievement.

This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university.

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-5/7 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements.

The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that 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. Major Duties:

• 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:
• Independently examines meat (in carcass or in cases where the USDA standards permit whole sale cut form) to evaluate the sex, texture, marbling, maturity, color, and other factors relating to product quality.
• Determines the yield grade of carcasses and applicable cuts by applying official standards involving such factors as carcass weight, amount of fat, and area of the ribeyes.
• Reevaluates carcasses previously identified for grade after they have been ribbed. Records and forwards evaluation data for factors which determine the final quality and yield grade of specific carcasses identified for evaluation.
• Selects samples, and examines meat food products for compliance with contract specifications.
• Prepares and issues certificates, maintains permanent records relating to their work, and performs similar administrative tasks