Biological Scientist

US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Manhattan (KS); On-site; USD 65,000 - 82,000; Full time

Job summary

The United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service seeks a Biological Scientist at the GS-11 level to work in the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL). The role emphasizes diagnosing foreign animal diseases, validating diagnostic tests, and contributing to proficiency training for state diagnostic labs.

Applicants must meet education or experience requirements and demonstrate ability to maintain meticulous lab records and report findings.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources, chemistry or related field.
• Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education in relevant fields.
• Combination of education and experience may qualify per GS-11 requirements.
• Careful documentation skills, records management including select agent inventory may be required.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose foreign animal diseases and validate diagnostic tests.
• Prepare technical reports and maintain precise laboratory records.

Skills

Diagnostic assay design

Laboratory data interpretation

Technical report writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in biological sciences or related

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

3 years of graduate education in Microbiology or related

Tools

PCR

RT-PCR

Sequencing

Job description

You will serve as a biological scientist within the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL).The key functions of the FADDL are the diagnosis of animal diseases foreign to the United States, the development and validation of diagnostic tests and reagents for foreign animal disease diagnosis, training and proficiency testing of state diagnostic laboratory personnel in diagnostic assays for exotic livestock diseases, generating and providing standards to be used in diagnostic assays. 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 REQUIREMENT: Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR

Combination of education and experience: post high school education with courses equivalent to a major, which is defined as 24 semester/36 quarter hours, in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management, chemistry or related disciplines appropriate to the position, PLUS appropriate experience or additional course work. The quality of the combination must demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the work of the position and is comparable to that normally acquired through the completion of a full four-year course of study with a major as described above.

FOR THE GS-11 GRADE 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:

• Designing, optimizing, or validating diagnostic assays, including interpreting experimental data and preparing technical reports.
• Performing laboratory diagnostics using microbiological methods, virus isolation techniques, and molecular biology procedures such as PCR, RT-PCR, sequencing, or other nucleic acid-based tests.
• Maintaining precise laboratory records, including select agent inventory tracking, quality control documentation, and experimental logs.

OR

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

OR

3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in the fields of Microbiology, Microbiology and Genetics, Veterinary Microbiology Immunology, Molecular Biology, Virology Animal Science, or closely related.

Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

TRANSCRIPTS are required if:

• This position requires specific coursework or a degree in a specific field to be basically qualified.
• 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.

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.

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.