Physiologist

Join the team! This position is located in the Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction, Directorate for Health Sciences. The Directorate provides pharmacological, toxicological and physiological evaluations of deaths, injuries and illnesses in support of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) actions to protect consumers. The Directorate provides management/analytical and scientific support to other offices within the Commission.

Duties

You will be responsible for providing advice and recommendations to the Directorate, other offices within the Agency, and the Commission. Your primary responsibility will be to critically review, evaluate, and interpret current scientific literature, research data and investigative reports, medical findings and injury reports, and proposed and existing mandatory and voluntary standards criteria to determine whether exposure to and/or use of particular consumer products can result in injuries or deaths. Your written and/or oral conclusions and recommendations must be concise, clear, scientifically sound, and reflect the significance of the information applicable to agency activities, including the development of mandatory and voluntary standards and support of compliance and enforcement actions.

Your assignments will involve a high degree of complexity and often will require innovative solutions to resolve any conflicting data. In some cases, you may serve as the Commission's expert witness and may be required as such to testify in court on behalf of the Agency. You will prepare oral and written responses to inquiries involving potential injuries and death due to use of consumer products; make formal and informal presentations to the Commission as the technical expert; represent the Agency on inter-agency committees and at voluntary standards meetings; maintain liaison with other scientists and public health authorities whose work has direct bearing on ongoing Agency work.

You may also serve as a project manager for various Agency hazard assessment and reduction projects, leading a multidisciplinary team, with responsibility for developing and coordinating work plans, tasks, and schedules to meet program objectives and make formal presentations to the Commission.

At the full-performance level you serve as a subject matter expert for specialized hazards (e.g., choking, drowning, head injuries) and/or product areas (e.g., sports and recreation products, children's products).

RequirementsConditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required.
• Background Investigation Required.
• Must meet education requirements.

Must be a U.S. Citizen.

This is a Public Trust Position. Employment in this position requires a background investigation. If you are selected and cannot obtain a favorable security determination within a reasonable period of time due to disclosed or undisclosed background issues, the tentative employment offer may be withdrawn.

Selectees will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to appointment and the appropriate background investigation forms to determine suitability for Federal employment.  False statements or responses on these forms can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.

The selectee will be required to complete a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the I-9 Form. We will compare information provided to confirm employee’s identity and eligibility to work. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.

Upon appointment, you will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450. You will need to provide the information annually.
  
You are applying under Delegated Examining and if selected under this authority, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period, even if you are a transfer from another federal agency.

Qualifications

In addition to the mandatory education requirement, all applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:  
 

GS-12: Analyzing and applying comprehensive knowledge of human physiological, anatomical, and biochemical principles, concepts, theories, and practices to injury-related issues in order to determine whether exposure to and/or use of certain products are a hazard; preparing written reports or verbally communicating your physiological analyses to laypersons or other scientists; providing advice and consultation services on a variety of physiological issues; and developing and maintaining working relationships with peers and supervisors, and acting as a scientific lead on work groups as needed. 

Evidence of the above specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held.  Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience or based on job titles alone.  If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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.

Applicants must meet the qualifications for this position by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Mandatory Education Requirement. All applicants must meet one of the following requirements to qualify:

Bachelor's degree or higher in one of the basic animal sciences or physiology; or a related discipline or field of science that included at least 24 semester hours in the basic animal sciences, of which 10 semester hours were in animal physiology.

For more information about the evaluation of education and coursework, please see the Office of Personnel Management's website for the 0413 - Physiologist series.

In addition to meeting the basic education requirement indicated above, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 as described above.

You MUST provide transcripts to support your educational claims. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable during the application process. Official transcripts will be required upon appointment.

All materials must be submitted by the closing date of this announcement.

All education claimed by applicants will be verified.

Additional information

CPSC provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact the Human Resources Specialist listed in this vacancy announcement.

Payment of relocation expenses is NOT authorized.

All the information you provide will be verified by a review of the work experience and/or education as shown on your application, by checking reference and through other means, such as the interview process. Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempts to conceal information may be grounds for not hiring you or for firing you after you begin work.

Additional selections may be made through this vacancy announcement.

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

As a condition of employment, the selectee must reside in the local commuting area of the duty station listed in this announcement.  Telework schedules (within the local commuting area) are approved on a case-by-case basis.  Employees will have an onsite requirement each week.  Proof of residence may be required.

This position is in the bargaining unit, The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Local 3579.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

After the vacancy closes, we will review your application package to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your responses to the questionnaire, resume and supporting documentation will then be reviewed. Your responses to the questionnaire will serve as the basis for your initial rating in one of three categories: "best", "better" or "good".

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

CTAP/ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating (Rating of at least “Better”).

Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, salary, duties performed for each position, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level/pay band.

Required Documents

Your package must be complete and submitted in the manner specified in this section.  Packages that are submitted in any other manner without prior approval from the agency point of contact will not be considered.

A complete application includes: 1. Resume; 2. Vacancy question responses; and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

If you are a current or former federal employee you must a copy of your most recent SF Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, that shows: (1) permanent or career-conditional tenure (codes 1 or 2, in block 24), and (2) position occupied in the competitive service (code 1, in block 34). To be considered as a non-competitive eligible candidate, the SF-50 must show the highest grade level or promotion potential level applicant has attained competitively and grade must be equivalent or higher than the grade for which applying. Indicate on your application the highest permanent grade you have held; if this grade is different from your current grade, submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing this grade.

Veterans' Preference (If Applicable) - If claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference view FedsHireVets.

CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must annotate your questionnaire to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible and you must submit appropriate documentation (such as: a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location).

If you are eligible for special hiring authority, please indicate this when you apply, and submit the supporting documentation for proof of eligibility for the special hiring authority, such as disability, Peace Corps service, Interchange Agreement, etc.

Other documents identified in this announcement.

All supplemental documents must be submitted electronically before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. You have two choices for submitting your supplemental documents:
1. Download from your USAJOBS account; or
2. Upload your file(s)

Failure to submit required documents, based upon how you apply, may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted. Official documents are not required at the time of application, copies are sufficient. If selected, official documentation must be submitted prior to appointment.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

You MUST apply on-line through USAJOBS. https://www.usajobs.gov/job/762740200

Your application must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement. Uploaded resumes must include the following: applicant contact information and educational and professional background information including dates of employment and education, salary (and Federal grade level, if appropriate), and work schedule (i.e., FT/PT). Incomplete applications will not be considered and you will not be contacted to provide any missing information.

To begin the application process, select the "Apply On-line" button to the right on this screen.  Then follow the prompts to login/register, submit all required supplemental documents, and complete the application process.

If you experience technical difficulties during the online application process, including error messages received when submitting your supporting documents, please contact the Help Desk by email at mgshelp@monster.com. The help desk is available for technical support questions Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET.