Research Microbiologist

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 105,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA is seeking a microbiology professional with graduate-level training and specialized experience to oversee molecular and growth-based laboratory testing for bacterial pathogens. Requirements include a microbiology-related degree, relevant coursework, and documented experience in quality systems.

Applicants should provide precise dates of employment and hours worked, as described in the announcement.

Qualifications

• Degree: microbiology; or biology, chemistry, or basic medical science with at least 20 semester hours in microbiology and related subjects; 20 semester hours in physical/mathematical sciences with organic chemistry/biochemistry, physics, and algebra.
• Graduate Education: Microbiology or related fields; or applied fields such as clinical/public health microbiology, food technology, etc.
• Alternate education/experience: major in microbiology/biology/chemistry with required courses and experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide oversight for molecular and growth-based laboratory testing of bacterial pathogens (e.g., Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex).
• Ensure compliance with regulations (e.g., CLIA) and quality/safety requirements.
• Draft, review, and approve SOPs and reporting formats under a quality management system.
• Oversee development, modification, and validation of clinical testing assays.
• Monitor test analyses and specimen examinations to maintain analytic performance.

Education

Microbiology/biology/chemistry degree with microbiology coursework

Job description

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. This vacancy is also being announced concurrently with vacancy announcement HHS-CDC-DE-26-13015382 under delegated examining procedures. Please review this announcement to see if you are eligible for consideration under competitive procedures.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Basic Qualifications: 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 tech-nology, 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. Alternate requirement: For GS-14 clinical and public health microbiology positions, certification by the American Board of Medical Microbiology/American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology, or election to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology fully meets the experience requirement for such positions.

AND Minimum Qualifications: You must have one year of specialized experience to perform successfully the duties of the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service performing

• Providing oversight for molecular and growth-based laboratory testing of bacterial pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.
• Ensuring compliance with all regulations, such as CLIA, and compliance with other quality and safety regulations and requirements.
• Drafting, reviewing and approving standard operating procedures, associated documents, and reporting formats under a quality management system.
• Overseeing development, modification, and validation of assays for clinical testing, when needed.
• Monitoring test analyses and specimen examinations to ensure that acceptable levels of analytic performance are maintained.

Documenting experience: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational application questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the "percentage of times" the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record.

In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through national Service