Supervisory Emergency Management Specialist (Branch Chief)

• The duties may include but are not limited to:
• Leads the Ready Response Corps aligning activities with APHIS emergency response objectives and policy.
• Serves as a consultant and authoritative expert to the Emergency Management Safety and Security Director Deputy Director and other management officials regarding agency-wide emergency preparedness and response programs and plans.
• Develops the Ready Response Corps infrastructure to provide rapid support to Agency emergency programs activities.
• Establishes and maintains a comprehensive Ready Response Corps training plan that includes incident command system training as well as APHIS-specific emergency response training.
• Develops Ready Response Corps position specific job hazard analyses (JHA) to identify potential hazards and determine preventative measures to control them.
• Ensures Ready Response Corps members adhere to all medical surveillance and monitoring requirements to maintain deployment readiness and complete annual fit testing.
• Leverages the APHIS Response Information System (ARIS) to track Corps members response capabilities including training credentials to deploy them based on where they can be of most benefit.
• Works closely with APHIS program leadership to understand their emergency response and deployment needs to ensure Ready Response Corps members are prepared to support a wide range of response needs.
• Develops well written materials to brief senior leadership and emergency managers about Ready Response Corps activities and speaks on behalf of the Agency about the Corps and its objective.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Individuals who were born male after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
• Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period.
• 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 accordance with Office of Government Ethics regulations concerning conflict of interest the incumbent will be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of their effective date of appointment and annually thereafter.
• All USDA employees are required to be enrolled in Continuous Vetting which authorizes government agencies to receive notifications of criminal activity on individuals who hold low risk public trust or national security positions.
• Occasional travel may be expected including site visits to field locations where emergency response activities are taking place.
• These visits may involve long periods of exposure to heat or cold and require walking bending and standing for extended periods of time.
• Expected to be on-call after hours to respond to emergencies.
• Will be required as an essential function to travel and work both in and outside of the United States in the performance of assigned 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 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-14 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-13 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local county state Federal) sectors which demonstrates:

• Provides leadership in building relationships with partners to execute program delivery.
• Identifies problems impacting the success of critical program delivery or emergency response and works to resolve challenges and remove barriers.
• Develops strategies to support critical program delivery and carries out implementation.
• Oversees a team ensuring they have resources to support emergency response activities or critical program delivery.
• Communicates effectively both verbally and in writing to keep those involved with emergency response or critical program delivery apprised of activities accomplishments or opportunities.