Supervisory Agriculturist (State Plant Health Director)

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: 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. FOR THE GS-15 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-14 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Assess the severity and scope of an agricultural pest outbreak and determine response strategy. Plan and control the use of resources to meet immediate and long-range objectives and performing the necessary decision making and problem solving required for program execution. Safeguard the health of agricultural plants and ecosystems by preventing, detecting and responding to threats of agro-terrorism. Experience in consultations and negotiations with union officials, to ensure all parties abide by the agreements contained in the contracts and that grievances and complaints are promptly addressed. Provide operational leadership and coordination with plant health programs Emergency Management Leadership and maintain or initiate contacts with other Federal Agencies, pest advisory groups, university biosecurity groups, the National Pest Detection Network, states and counties, tribes, the general public and many other stakeholders. Negotiate and coordinate resolution/handling of critical programs with nonfederal government officials i.e., emergency programs dealing with significant threats to American agriculture production. Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level. 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.
The State Plant Health Director (SPHD) is responsible for APHIS scientific and administrative plant regulatory activities within New York. These activities include: pest and disease risk analysis; exclusion and prevention; effective export certification program for plant products and animal by-products; design and implementation of survey programs for early pest detection; eradication of pest or disease outbreaks; and conducting regulatory programs for domestic pests.