Agricultural Commodity Grader (Specialty Crops) Training Officer

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Fort Worth, Texas

Salary Range: $78820.0 - $102463.0 Per Year

Job Summary: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division is responsible for developing U.S. grade standards and providing inspection, grading, certification, and audit-based services nation-wide on a user-fee basis for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables and related products. The incumbent trains and is responsible for planning, developing and providing training in grading and inspecting fruits, vegetables and related products, and in workplace safety.

Major Duties:

• The duties may include, but are not limited to:
• Instructs graders, technicians, and aids regarding proper inspection, grading, auditing procedures, techniques, defect identification, defect scoring, and documentation of inspection results
• Completes and maintains proper training records.
• Collects and analyzes information from Agricultural Commodity Graders to identify areas to be addressed to ensure uniform and accurate training, and the effective delivery of services.
• Uses knowledge of day-to-day operations, including grading of fruits and vegetables; and knowledge in training principles and practices, training, formal classroom instruction and adult learning.
• Assists the Training and Development Branch in providing training to Division employees and/or other customers.
• Assists with the evaluation of training needs for and/or the inspection performance of individual Agricultural Commodity Graders.
• Works to ensure consistent and uniform interpretation and application of grade standards and inspection procedures.
• Reviews new and revised U.S. grade standards for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, Commercial Item Descriptions, USDA purchase specifications, and State specifications.
• May serve as Safety Officer or Assistant Safety Officer for the Region.

Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. FOR THE GS-11 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-09 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Providing general and/or technical information on fresh and/or processed grade standards or inspection services. Providing instruction/training on inspection procedures, policies and grade standards of fresh and/or processed fruit and vegetable products and documenting same. Evaluating procedures and instructions to determine training needs, coordinate technical development and maintenance of instruction programs and materials. Experience within the fruit and vegetable industry in application of various practices and procedures including transportation and storage practices; processing, packing and packing materials; marketing methods and practices. OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in Agriculture, Mathematics, Engineering, Economics, Business, Science or related field. OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR LL.M., if related. Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level. TRANSCRIPTS are required if: You are qualifying for the position based on education. You are qualifying for this position based on a combination of experience and education. This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university. COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-11 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. 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.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.

Application Deadline: 2024-09-12