Full-time
Posted 2 years ago

Apply Here: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/696286600

Summary
This position is designed as a SES, Career-Reserved. USDA structures its SES positions into position levels. This is a position level two with a salary range of $181,001- $192,900 per year. Exceptions to the salary cap may be considered in certain circumstances. SES employees are also eligible to receive bonuses and performance-based awards. Visit http://www.opm.gov/ses/ for additional information and benefits for SES employees.

Duties
The incumbent serves as the Associate Deputy Administrator (ADA), Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Emergency and Domestic Programs (EDP) and as a member of the PPQ Management Team.
The incumbent represents the Deputy Administrator and is responsible for providing national leadership in the overall planning, coordination and direction of domestic plant pest and emergency response programs.
Duties include but are not limited to:
Develops strategic and operational plans that ensure effective EDP support of PPQ’s mission, reflecting a high level of awareness of program priorities and goals;
Collaborates with PPQ’s Field Operations (FO) and Science and Technology (ST) to ensure plant pest control and eradication tools/methods are effectively utilized nationwide to prevent and respond to invasive plant pests and diseases;
Collaborates with PPQ’s International Phytosanitary Management and Standards Program (IPMSP) and Pest Exclusion and Import Programs (PEIP) to ensure domestic regulatory requirements are equivalent to international requirements;
Coordinates the strategies for plant pest control and eradication, emergency response policy and program recommendations with other USDA organizational units, and other public and private cooperators and stakeholders;
Serves as the PPQ primary point of contact for the APHIS Emergency Preparedness Committee and the APHIS Multi-Agency Committee for coordinating all-hazard emergency response activities;
Serves as the USDA Senior Invasive Coordinator supporting the Secretary, or his/her designee, in their role as a member of the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) under the authority of Executive Order 13112;
Coordinates with Science and Technology to support the development of APHIS’ strategies and technology used in biological control efforts nationwide;
Leads, encourages, and facilitates projects through grants and cooperative agreements to ensure focused scientific support to the PPQ mission;
Provides leadership in short and long-range budget plan and execution for EDP operations and develops funding recommendations for the Deputy Administrator and Administrator;
Develops specialized training and outreach programs with other APHIS units and in partnership with academia and industry;
Plans and develops overall objectives, policies, and procedures for broad goal-oriented regulatory, control, and eradication programs; provides executive direction and policy objectives; and
Provides leadership in extending the regulatory, control, and eradication efforts by fostering and developing cooperative objectives and programs with Federal, State, and foreign officials and other interested groups or individuals.

Requirements
Conditions of Employment
Veterans Preference is not applicable in the Senior Executive Service.
Initial appointments are required to serve a 1-year probationary period
Narrative Statements for the ECQs must not exceed 10 pages
Background Investigation required.

Qualifications
YOU MUST UPLOAD YOUR RESPONSES TO THE EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs) AND TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs).

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as:

– Directing the work of an organizational unit;
– Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects;
– Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance; and
– Supervising the work of employees; and exercising important policy-making, policy determining, or other executive functions.

Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): The ECQs were designed to assess executive experience and potential not technical expertise. They measure whether an individual has the broad executive skills needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions. All applicants must submit a written narrative to address the ECQs. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and should contain at least two examples per ECQ describing your experiences and accomplishments/results. The narrative should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments, policy Initiatives undertaken and the results of your actions. Applicants should not enter “Refer to Resume” to explain your answer.

The narrative must not exceed 10 pages. NOTE: Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates who have been certified by OPM do NOT need to address the ECQs.

1. Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. (Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision)

2. Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organizations vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. (Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building)

3. Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. (Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility)

4. Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. (Competencies: financial management, human capital management, technology management)

5. Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. (Competencies: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating) Fundamental Competencies: These competencies are the foundation for success in each of the Executive Core Qualifications: Interpersonal Skills, Oral Communication, Continual Learning, Written Communication, Integrity/Honesty, Public Service Motivation. The Fundamental Competencies are crosscutting; and should be addressed over the course of each ECQ narratives. It is not necessary for you to address the Fundamental Competencies directly as long as the narrative, in its totality, shows mastery of these competencies on the whole.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action and Result (C-C-A-R) model outlined in the guide.

Challenge – Describe a specific problem or goal.

Context – Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).

Action – Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge.

Result – Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

Additional information about the SES and Executive Core Qualifications can be found on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) SES Website. You are strongly encouraged to review OPMs Guide to SES Qualifications for specific examples and guidance on writing effective ECQ narrative statements.

MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative response to the following TQs. You must address each TQ separately. Each TQ narratives must not exceed two (2) pages. Please give examples and explain the complexity of the knowledge possessed and the sensitivity of the issued you handled.

1. Describe your experience that demonstrates a broad knowledge of plant pests and diseases and incorporation into regulatory or industry control, eradication, or safeguarding programs. Examples might include experience in developing, advising, or leading rulemaking, policy, or programs on plant health; skills in applying principles to prevent and control plant disease or pest outbreaks; or ability to incorporate principles of risk assessment into planning and evaluating programs.
2. Describe your experience that demonstrates your ability to maximize communication, collaboration, and consensus building to support programs, policy development, and/or policy implementation to meet plant health safeguarding strategic goals or outcomes. Include examples of success garnered through cooperative relationships and activities with multiple domestic and/or international stakeholders with varying or competing interests.
Education
0401 – Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences:
Positions in this series require a bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited college or university with a major study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, or allied disciplines pertinent to the work of the position to be filled.

Additional information

Consideration for competitive selection for this position is open to all persons within the area of consideration who meet the basic qualifications. Race, color, age, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, religion, marital or family status, disability, and other non-merit factors will not be considered.

1. This position is covered under the post-employment restriction of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521). This law also requires the selectee to file an Executive Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (Standard Form 278), within 30 days of appointment.

2. Applications sent in U.S. Government postage-paid envelope and submitted through Federal Agency courier services will not be considered.

3. The 1993 Hatch Act Reform Amendments prohibit oral and written political recommendations for Federal jobs.

4. Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must be registered with the Selective Service System before they can be employed by an executive agency of the Federal government. This requirement does not apply to Agency employees appointed before November 8, 1985.

5. All application forms are subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act and become the property of USDA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication or program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

Reasonable Accommodation: This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency at 202-260-8128. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

Effective January 1, 2010, OPM must authorize any employment offers we make to current or former (within the last 5 years) political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employees in the executive branch. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you must disclose that to the Human Resources Office.

Job Features

Job Category

Administrator

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