Department: Department of Agriculture
Location(s): Athens, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia
Salary Range: $156451 - $197200 Per Year
Job Summary: We are hiring a Director for the Applied Epidemiology Staff to lead national food safety programs. In this senior role, you will report to OPHS leadership and oversee critical investigations into zoonotic and food hazards to actively prevent foodborne illnesses. You will guide farm-to-table risk assessments and antimicrobial resistance monitoring to ensure the safety of our nation's meat, poultry, Siluriformes, and processed egg products.
Major Duties:
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 the time in grade requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. Specialized Experience: To qualify for this position, you must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-14 or its equivalent in the federal service. Applicants are required to meet 4 out of 5 requirements listed below by the closing date of this announcement. (Note: This experience must be detailed in your resume by the announcement's closing date.) Demonstrated experience managing or developing a diverse team of subject matter experts (SMEs), including medical officers, epidemiologists, and/or senior scientists. May involve establishing accountability for high-quality results, delegating work, and providing formal and informal mentorship to build organizational capacity. Experience negotiating or collaborating with external partners (e.g., CDC, FDA, WHO, or state health departments) to link food production factors to human health outcomes. May include influencing industry leaders and academia on the control of zoonotic agents in the global food supply chain. Experience leading the transition of organizational workflows to incorporate advanced technologies, such as Whole Genome Sequencing (metagenomics) and Artificial Intelligence, for predictive risk modeling. May include translating complex surveillance data into actionable national prevention strategies to reduce foodborne illness. Experience contributing to the development and implementation of agency-wide epidemiological policy frameworks. May include aligning organizational goals with federal food safety regulations (such as those governing meat, poultry, and egg products) and providing executive-level advisory on zoonotic diseases and "One Health" approaches. Experience reviewing or validating scientific findings from national surveillance systems (e.g., NARMS) and outbreak investigations. May include ensuring the scientific quality and accuracy of technical reports released to international stakeholders. 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: Officers on active duty in the USPHS Commissioned Corps and applicants to the PHS Commissioned Corps do not apply on-line. Interested active-duty Commissioned Corps officers and applicants to the Commissioned Corps should contact CDR Catherine Rockwell, USDA-FSIS Commissioned Corps Liaison at email: catherine.rockwell@usda.gov; for more information. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments, and required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. Resumes must not exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. 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. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.
Application Deadline: 2026-05-15