Chemist

The Recent Graduate Program is a program that provides employment opportunities for recent graduates and individuals who obtained certificates from qualified educational institutions or programs. The program enables individuals to explore Federal civil service employment at the beginning of their careers; and engages them at the onset of their work lives, before their career path are fully established. The program duration is one year. Upon successful completion of the program and at the agency’s discretion, the appointee may be converted to a term or permanent position in the competitive service. Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements to participate in this Recent Graduate Program: A. Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or qualifying certificate with at least 3.0 overall GPA from an accredited educational institution within the 2 years preceding the closing date of this announcement. -OR- B. Released or discharged from active duty within the previous two years by 06/23/2023, where as a veteran who, due to a military service obligation, was precluded from applying to the Recent Graduate Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period following completion of degree or certificate requirements, are entitled to a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. In no event, however, may the eligibility period extend beyond 6 years from the date on which the preference eligible veteran completed the requirements of the degree or certificate. -OR- C. Individuals that are scheduled to complete a qualifying Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate, professional, vocational or technical degree or certificate program within 9 months from the closing date of this announcement. The degree/certificate must be conferred by 03-22-2024 with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. NOTE: You must submit transcripts or official documentation to verify your eligibility under the Recent Graduate Program. Transcripts MUST reflect the degree/certificate program and the degree conferred date. If your degree/certificate has not been conferred, you must provide proof of the anticipated graduation date. Selectee’s entry on duty date will be upon degree conferment. In addition to the eligibility requirements for the Pathways Recent Graduate Program, you must also meet the following Individual Occupational Requirements by 06/23/2023 in order to qualify for the Chemist, 1320 positions. EDUCATION STATEMENT – Individual Occupational Requirement: This position has an education requirement. You must submit a copy of your transcripts (or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed and grades) to document that you have met the education requirement. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package; however, official transcripts will be required prior to beginning employment. Most colleges and universities offer unofficial transcripts online – please check your school website to obtain a copy quickly. Applicants must have successfully completed one of the following (A or B): A. Degree: physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics; -OR- B. Combination of education and experience — course work equivalent to a major as shown in A above, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements above, you must also meet the OPM Qualification Requirements listed below by 06/23/2023 in order to qualify for the Chemist, 1320, at GS – 9. A. Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal service which includes gathering and performing chemical scientific analyses and tests on sample substances; recording laboratory analyses and measurements; and interpreting the findings and using various laboratory instruments and computer systems; -OR- B. A master’s or equivalent graduate degree; -OR- 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree is related to the position to be filled; -OR- if related, a LL.B. or J.D. -OR- C. Have a combination of experience as described in “A” above and education as described in “B” above. When combining education with experience, first determine the applicant’s total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine the applicant’s experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. Note: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school you attended has determined to represent one year of study. If this information cannot be obtained from your school, we will consider 18 semester/27 quarter hours to be equal to one year of full-time study. This position requires a degree or completion of specific courses in order to meet the basic education requirement. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Your transcript(s) must clearly demonstrate the course(s) listed in the Basic Qualification requirement section. If the transcript(s) does not clearly demonstrate this, you must submit a copy of the course description and/or other documentation demonstrating that the courses are equivalent. Degree requirements must be met by the closing date of this job announcement and your transcript(s) submitted must reflect this. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. 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. Qualification standards and additional information for this position can be found here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/
These positions are located in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Office of Regulatory Science (ORS). ORA protects consumers and enhance public health by maximizing compliance of FDA regulated products & minimizing risk associated with those products. ORA is responsible for inspecting regulated products and manufacturers, conducting sample analyses of regulated products, and reviewing imported products.