Consumer Safety Officer

Full Job Description

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office for International Affairs, Trade and Commerce (IATC) Seafood Inspection Program with 17 vacancies in Long Beach, CA; Hollywood, FL; Gloucester, MA; or Seattle, WA.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS IATC-26-12922088-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards.

This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position requires applicants to meet a Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified.

Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the 0696 series: EDUCATION: A.

Degree: A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in quality assurance or a related degree that included at least 30 semester hours in one or a combination of the following: consumer laws, biological sciences, food science, chemistry, pharmacy, physical sciences, food technology, nutrition, medical science, engineering, epidemiology, veterinary medical science, legal investigations, law enforcement, or related scientific fields that provided knowledge directly related to consumer safety officer work.

*The 30 semester hours may include up to 8 semester hours in statistics, or course work that included the principles, theory, or practical application of computers or computer programming. OR B.

Combination of education and experience: Courses consisting of at least 30 semester hours in the fields of study described in paragraph A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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; knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

To qualify at the ZP-1 or GS-05 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants that meet Basic Education Requirements for the series are considered qualified at the ZP-1 or GS-05.

To qualify at the ZP-2 or GS-07 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-1 or GS-05 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Participating in performing food inspections; and Assisting in the review of records of food processing facilities inspections.

OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: One full year of graduate-level education.

OR SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Demonstrated by a related bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with one of the following.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application clearly states how you meet one of the provisions below (you must attach a copy of your transcripts showing completed degree and, if applicable, proof of National Scholastic Honor Society membership): A grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study; A GPA of 3.5 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study, or those courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study; Class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college; Membership in a national Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies.

OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements.

Major Duties:

As a Consumer Safety Officer, you will perform the following duties: Conduct audits of seafood processing facilities and vessels to evaluate conformity with regulations, program policy, and industry standards for ensuring safe, healthy and quality seafood products in manufacturing processes.

Perform inspections of raw and processed seafood products to evaluate the safety, quality, and health of the products in accordance with regulations, grade standards, program policy, and item descriptions or specifications.

Support the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) process in facility audits and inspections to identify violations, recommend corrective actions, and develop HACCP and quality management programs in processing plants and vessels in compliance with regulations and program policy.

NOTE: These duties are described at the full performance level of the ZP-2; the ZP-1 is developmental leading to such performance.

The full performance level for this position is a ZP-3; the ZP-1 and ZP-2 levels are developmental leading to such performance.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: This position requires the operation of a Federal motor vehicle.

Incumbent must possess a valid driver's license to travel to seafood processing locations, and/or transport samples for inspection, on a regular and recurring basis.

This position has physical requirements. Incumbent must be able to lift up to 50 pounds unassisted.

Must possess sensory abilities (sight, smell, taste) which are capable of detecting and identifying abnormalities (defects) in product characteristics.

Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active.

Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.