Overview

  • Accepting applications

Duties

Summary

The position is located in the Marketing Order and Agreement Division of the Specialty Crops Program. The Division develops and administers marketing order and agreement programs and import quality regulations. In this position, you will serve as a Fruit and Vegetable Marketing Specialist. Successful candidates will be responsible for supporting formal and informal rule-making actions pertaining to various marketing programs.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

  • The duties described are for the full-performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity.
  • The duties may include, but are not limited to:
  • Develops regulatory text to facilitate and administer marketing agreement regulations for fruits and vegetables
  • Supports formal and informal regulation writing, that may include preparing for administrative law hearings or agriculture grower referenda as necessary.
  • Informs USDA leadership through frequent tracker reporting or formal memoranda.
  • Ensures regulatory compliance with the Paperwork Reduction and Freedom of Information Acts in coordination with USDA attorneys
  • Helps support web content publishing related to fruit and vegetable regulation and industry updates to marketing order activities

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Selectee will be subject to a pre-employment medical statement and/or exam.
  • Prior to an official offer, selectee will be required to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) acknowledging/accepting that geographic mobility is a condition of employment. Failure to sign the MOU will result in withdrawal of the job offer.

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:

  • Understanding of agriculture production through either work experience on farms or through academic studies that included a basis of agriculture or related fields such as agricultural development, conservation, and economics.
  • Understanding of government and policy through professional work experiences supporting the drafting of policy or through academic work in government or related fields such as federal policy and regulation development.
  • Editing and developing reports, memorandum, and summaries from various source materials; includes the ability to provide peer-review editing support with short timelines.
  • Working in collaborative team environments, face-to-face and remotely, with frequently changing priorities and multiple projects timetables.
  • Developing information, identify interrelationships, and take actions consistent with objectives of program served.

OR
Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR
3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

OR
LL.M., if related

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.

FOR THE GS-12 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-11 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:

  • Developing, managing and conducting regulatory compliance and enforcement rule-making actions and materials that support the implementation and ongoing administration of industry-operated marketing agreement and order programs.
  • Analyzing, developing, promulgating, administering, and enforcement of complex marketing agreements and order programs designed to carry out marketing plans agreement and order program intended to improve financial returns to growers of agricultural products.
  • Writing increasingly complex rule-making dockets pertaining to industry-requested rule-making actions, memorandum for agency officials .
  • Establishing compliance measures reports based on for data from information sources.
  • Identifying ways to improve instances of non-compliance of the program’s responsiveness to internal and external customers through rule-making and related activities labeling requirements.
  • Preparing notices of non-compliance to firms assuring accuracy of issues found, and determine if corrective and preventive actions are sufficient.

Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level.

FOR THE GS-13 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:

  • Completing, both individually and as a member of a team, a range of rule-making actions and the materials that support the implementation and ongoing administration of marketing agreement and order programs.
  • Sharing expertise with internal and external personnel related to analyzing, developing, promulgating, administering, and enforcing marketing agreement and order programs designed to improve returns to growers of agricultural products.
  • Participate in program initiatives that educate new or less senior employees about marketing agreement and order programs and related agency services.
  • Maintaining networks of information sources and handle the various rule-making related tasks.
  • Developing and updating procedural documents and policies that foster uniformity in developing rule-making related actions, and comply with established measures for collection of data from information sources.

Note: There is no education substitution 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
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.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.