Supervisory Research Molecular Biologist/Microbiologist/Chemical Engineer (Research Leader)

Summary

The incumbent serves as Research Leader for the Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR), Peoria, Illinois. The incumbent leads a broad research program to develop commercially applicable processes for conversion of agricultural commodities into biofuels, chemicals, and other co-products that add value to biorefinery process streams.

Duties

• Incumbent leads, directs, and conducts research whose objectives include:
• developing inhibitor tolerant microorganisms to serve as platform biocatalysts for production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic feedstocks;
• generating enzymes required to hydrolyze recalcitrant xylan structures to increase sugar availability for biorefinery processes;
• developing an improved biorefinery process for production of organic acids from lignocellulose;
• developing technologies that enable non-Saccharomyces yeast-based processes for bioconversion of lignocellulose to advanced biofuels and value-added bioproducts;
• enabling production of biocontrol co-products to add value to biorefinery process streams; and
• applying principles of Life-Cycle Analysis or similar frameworks to quantitatively assess the environmental and economic sustainability of renewable products/technologies and potential benefits.
• Supervisory duties include:
• providing vision and developing research projects that address stakeholder priorities;
• establishing an advisory stakeholder base to advocate for the unit’s research projects and enable commercialization of possible products to meet mandated technology transfer objectives;
• exercising leadership and supervising personnel assigned to the unit;
• maximizing the creativity and productivity of the unit;
• hiring personnel and managing the human, fiscal, and physical resources assigned to the unit;
• serving as the unit fundholder;
• providing technical information and consultation both internal and external to Agricultural Research Service; and
• ensuring the proper interpretation and reporting of scientific research results.

RequirementsConditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. 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 a 3 -year probationary period.
• Subject to 1-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 E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must meet the basic requirements for at least one of the series described below.

General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series, 0401
1. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
2. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Microbiology Series, 0403
A. Degree: microbiology; or biology, chemistry, or basic medical science that included at least 20 semester hours in microbiology and other subjects related to the study of microorganisms, and 20 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences combining course work in organic chemistry or biochemistry, physics, and college algebra, or their equivalent.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in microbiology, biology, chemistry, or basic medical science that included courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Graduate Education: Microbiology, or specific area of study such as bacteriology, virology, mycology, algology, protozoology, parasitology, immunology, serology, microbial genetics, or soil microbiology; or specific applied fields of microbiology such as clinical and public health microbiology, food technology, production processes, industrial fermentation, pollution, etc. Graduate study in related fields such as experimental pathology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, biochemistry, animal or plant physiology, genetics, plant pathology, and insect disease control, may also be pertinent, provided it has direct application to microbiological work.

Chemical Engineering Series, 0893
A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

For more information about EI and EIT registration requirements, please visit the National Society of Professional Engineers website at: http://www.nspe.org.The FE examination is not administered by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management. For more information, please visit: http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/HowtoGetLicensed/index.html.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
In addition to meeting the basic requirements for one of the series described above, applicants must also meet additional qualification requirements as stated below.

GS-14: Applicants must have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience (defined below) equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the Federal Service.

The specialized experience requirements for this position at the GS-14 level are:

• Planning and conducting independent research related to the bioconversion of agricultural commodities and residues to biofuels, chemicals, or other value-added products; AND
• Managing human, fiscal, and physical resources to accomplish research goals; AND
• Publishing independent research results related to biofuels or biorefinery co-products in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

GS-15: Applicants must have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience (defined below) equivalent to at least the GS-14 grade level in the Federal Service.

The specialized experience requirements for this position at the GS-15 level are:

• Leading a multidisciplinary team conducting research related to the bioconversion of agricultural commodities and residues to biofuels, chemicals, or other value-added products; AND
• Developing and maintaining relationships with commodity groups or other stakeholders; AND
• Managing human, fiscal, and physical resources to accomplish research goals; AND
• Publishing independent research results related to biofuels or biorefinery co-products in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Supervisory/Managerial Competencies - the following KSAs will also be used to evaluate candidates in the interview and selection process:
1. Ability to lead and accomplish work through others (i.e. team building, conflict management, cultural awareness, strategic thinking, technology, management and political savvy.)
2. Ability to communicate with individuals or groups from diverse backgrounds in a variety of situations.

Applicants must be available to report for duty at the time a selection is made. Selections are typically made within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

Additional information

This position requires the selectee to undergo a pre-employment check and a full background investigation. Any offer made is considered a tentative job offer pending the outcome of the pre-employment check. Retention in the position is based upon a favorable adjudication of the background investigation. The incumbent will be subject to periodic reinvestigations.

CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT: Federal employees are subject to prohibitions against officially dealing with outside organizations in which they have a financial interest. If hired for this position, you may be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of the effective date of your appointment and annually thereafter.

Research scientists have open-ended promotion potential. Research accomplishments and their impact on the duties and responsibilities of positions are evaluated periodically. The grade level is limited only by the individual's demonstrated ability to perform research of recognized importance to science and technology. *Final grade level may be determined by a peer review panel.

Vacant research positions may be filled at one of several grade levels depending upon the scientific impact of the person selected. For this reason, you are encouraged to apply at all grade levels. A peer review will be required for selections made at grades GS-13 and above and the selectee will be required to submit supplemental materials.

This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series/position titles listed. In addition to the specialized experience requirements, applicants must submit proof that they meet the educational requirements for at least one of the series described in the announcement. Applicants may only be appointed to job series/position titles for which they meet all experience and educational requirements.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 71 out of a possible 100.

Recruitment or Relocation Incentive may be authorized. Final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official at time of job offer.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.