Program Specialist

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS); Manhattan (KS); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

USDA Agricultural Research Service at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, KS seeks a professional to serve as Certifying Official for NBAF suitability assessment and monitoring, and to organize essential information about the high-reliability program to foster leadership and psychological safety.

The role emphasizes specialized IO psychology work, program development, and guidance to leadership on policy adherence in a federal research setting.

Qualifications

• Specialized experience directly related to GS-11: interview/survey methodologies, training programs, staff engagement, and IO psychology program activities.
• Experience guiding leadership to ensure policy and SOP compliance within a large facility.
• Education options include Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of related graduate study.
• GS-12 requires development of organizational programs, metrics, and IO training program implementation.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Certifying Official for NBAF suitability assessment and monitoring program.
• Organize and share information within the organization about the NBAF high-reliability program to foster leadership capabilities and psychological safety.

Skills

Interview methodologies

Survey design

Training program development

Staff engagement monitoring

Industrial/Organizational psychology

Leadership guidance

Policy adherence

Education

Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree

3 full years of graduate education

Job description

Summary

This position is located within the Agricultural Research Service at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, in Manhattan, KS. In this position, you will have two primary responsibilities: To serve as the Certifying Official for the NBAF suitability assessment and monitoring program, and to serve as the primary source for organizing and sharing key information within the organization about the NBAF's high-reliability program to foster leadership capabilities and psychological safety.

Duties

This position is located within the Agricultural Research Service at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, in Manhattan, KS. In this position, you will have two primary responsibilities: To serve as the Certifying Official for the NBAF suitability assessment and monitoring program, and to serve as the primary source for organizing and sharing key information within the organization about the NBAF's high-reliability program to foster leadership capabilities and psychological safety.

Requirements

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. GS-11

Qualifications

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are:

Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position, and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience creating and validating interview and survey methodologies; creating training programs; monitoring staff engagement; developing and executing industrial organizational psychology program activities; and providing guidance to leadership to ensure staff follow facility-wide policies and standard operating procedures. OR Education: 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. OR A combination of specialized experience and Ph.D level education as described above.

GS-12

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are:

Qualifying experience for GS-12 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-11 which is directly related to the work of this position, and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience developing and executing organizational programs and policies; creating and evaluating assessment tools and performance metrics; writing and validating interview and survey methodologies; and building and implementing industrial organizational psychology training programs.

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.

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Our job is finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. What we do matters in science and the world. For more information about Agricultural Research Service, go to https://www.ars.usda.gov/.