Department of Agriculture

Veterinary Medical Officer (District Veterinary Medical Officer)

Ottumwa, Iowa, Cold Spring, Minnesota, Fargo, North Dakota, Dakota City, Nebraska Full time

Veterinary Medical Officer (District Veterinary Medical Officer)

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Ottumwa, Iowa, Cold Spring, Minnesota, Fargo, North Dakota, Dakota City, Nebraska

Salary Range: $105383 - $137000 Per Year

Job Summary: Positions are located in the Office of Field Operations, Des Moines District and reports to the District Office with assigned area of in-plant coverage as determined by Agency. This position serves as primary contact for all veterinary duties associated with food safety, animal welfare, foreign animal disease surveillance, ante-mortem and postmortem procedures and dispositions, and export certification.

Major Duties:

  • Interpret and analyze guidelines and regulations.
  • Implement guidelines, policies, and regulations to provide personnel support.
  • Conduct research and investigations to make judgments and recommendations.
  • Foster working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Communicate guidelines and process to plant personnel.
  • Draft recommendations, reports, and guidance documents.
  • Apply veterinary medical concepts, principles, and practices.
  • Perform routine onsite humane handling and good commercial practices.

Qualifications: Please reference the specific Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualifications standards for the 0701 Job Series. Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and education, as defined below. Time in grade: Applicants must have one year of time in grade at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g. one year at the GS-12 grade level for consideration for the GS-13 grade level). Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g. one year at the GS-12 grade level for consideration for the GS-13 grade level). Your 52 weeks of specialized experience must demonstrate the ability to perform, plan or manage veterinary medical activities. Qualifying experience includes: Experience applying and enforcing policies, practices, and regulations. Knowledge of veterinary medical concepts, scientific literature, and emerging issues related to food safety. Experience in coordination of new or revised veterinary medical policies, methods, or procedures. Experience interpreting and applying the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of the inspection program such as humane handling, antemortem, postmortem, inspection procedures conducted in slaughter establishments, Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), or Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP). Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with internal and external 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: Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.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 to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. Alternative Methods for Applying: If you are unable to apply using the internet, please fax your request for an application package along with your name and mailing address to HR: 1-833-840-9219. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. 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. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-24