Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer

Full Job Description

The Ready Response Corps is a cadre dedicated to rapidly deploying in support of animal and plant health-related emergencies and all hazards' events to safeguard American agriculture.

The Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO) leads a team of VMOs and Animal Health Technicians (AHTs), providing leadership and technical expertise to prioritize pest and disease related response activities requiring travel 75% of the time.

Recruitment Incentive may be authorized, but not guaranteed.

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

All applicants must meet the Basic Requirement outlined in the Education section below.

FOR THE GS-13 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Providing leadership and technical expertise to veterinarians and/or animal health technicians.

Experience with production animal systems, including but not limited to livestock and poultry, including experience applying veterinary medical concepts and practices for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control diseases of livestock and/or poultry.

Executing disease response protocols to prevent and respond to animal diseases of concern in production animal systems.

Maintaining positive interactions with customers, animal owners, producers, animal health authorities, and/or other stakeholders in the management and promotion of animal health and disease prevention and treatment/response.

OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-13 GRADE LEVEL: Successful completion of a PhD degree in an area of specialization including, but not limited to: animal science, avian medicine, food safety, infectious diseases, veterinary clinical sciences, pathobiology, biomedical sciences, veterinary anatomy, veterinary preventive medicine, comparative biological sciences, epidemiology, veterinary parasitology, molecular veterinary biosciences, public health, microbiology, pathology, immunology, laboratory animal medicine, toxicology, wildlife, zoological animal medicine, or other sciences related to the work of a veterinary medical officer position.

OR RESIDENCY/POST GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR THE GS-13 GRADE LEVEL.

Successful completion of three years of an internship, residency program, or fellowship training program in a discipline related to the position.

Applicants should provide a certificate or letter documenting the completion of this program.

OR BOARD CERTIFICATION FOR THE GS-13 GRADE LEVEL-Specialty boards that are recognized by the American Board of Veterinary Specialties (ABVS) of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) certify eligible candidates as specialists in specific veterinary medical fields.

Veterinarians who successfully complete all requirements for Diplomate status in an ABVS-recognized veterinary specialty organization may qualify for the GS-13 grade level.

Applicants should provide a certificate or letter documenting their diplomate status. TRANSCRIPTS are required.

This position requires specific coursework or a degree in a specific field to be basically qualified.

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. Major Duties:

• The duties may include, but are not limited to:
• Acts a supervisor and technical expert, managing a staff of VMOs and AHTs during high stress, rapidly evolving emergency response situations.
• Works with the Branch Chief to advance APHIS emergency response objectives ensuring a cohesive Agency approach that accounts for animal and plant pest and disease emergencies and all hazard events.
• Consults with and provides expert veterinary advice to the Branch Chief and other management officials regarding agency-wide emergency preparedness and response programs and plans.
• Help establish and maintain a comprehensive Ready Response Corps training plan including incident command system and APHIS-specific emergency response training, with focus on VMO and AHT activities.
• Deploys to agricultural emergencies, primarily animal disease outbreaks to assist with emergency response, containment, and mitigation risk reduction activities through the Ready Response Corps.
• Coordinates emergency response depopulation activities with Incident Management Teams (IMT) following the direction of the Incident Commander or other onsite leadership.
• Establishes and enforces surveillance, quarantine, movement control areas to stop the spread of animal and plant pests and diseases.
• Develops, prepares, and/or finalizes a variety of published materials to educate groups about the impacts of animal disease on livestock producers and the United States food supply.
• Works with states and industry on biosecurity assessments and improvements to prevent the introduction of pests and diseases.