Consumer Safety Inspector

About the Role

$5,000 Sign on Bonus, Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and Referral Bonus Awards are available. Shifts and species will vary based on assignment. Employee may be detailed to any shift at any plant the district of assignment.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for protecting the public's health by ensuring the safety of the Nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products.

The duties of a Consumer Safety Inspector are performed in a hazardous working environment.

Responsibilities

• Apply proper techniques for collecting samples and/or performing field tests and examinations (e.g., identifying abnormalities in the product or production environment and recommending corrective actions).
• Develop written reports and/or report findings of results orally (e.g., documenting abnormalities in the product or production environment and communicating those findings to others).
• Maintain effective personal contacts with a variety of individuals (e.g., discussing findings with internal or external contacts regarding the food safety standards established in the production environment).
• Make determinations on products for human consumption or the production environment (e.g., ensuring conformance with established standards).
• For GS-08 and above: inspect meat, poultry, and egg products under the Federal Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products Inspection Acts; verify plant HACCP and SSOP responsibilities using basic SSOP and HACCP principles and practices; perform basic mathematics and elementary statistical concepts and methods to carry out testing and sampling procedures; and reach and interpret conclusions.
• For GS-09: work at a more independent level than lower graded CSIs, which may include recommending refusal of exports and providing temporary coverage at locations outside of the official duty station.

Requirements

• Be physically and medically able to efficiently perform the essential job functions, without being a direct threat to themselves and others.
• Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level.
• Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climb stairs and ladders.
• Be able to lift, carry, push, and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds.
• Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers, with a normal sense of touch in both hands.
• Have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease, and have correctable vision of at least 20/40 in one eye.
• Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (more than 25 percent error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying.
• Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education. Specialized experience is experience that provided knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities or other products for human consumption. Such experience may have been acquired in work such as consumer safety inspector or inspection aide, food inspector, public health inspector, quality inspection specialist, or a similar position with responsibility for sampling, quality control, and sanitation in a food manufacturing or production environment, or similar environment for other ingestible items.

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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

For the GS-05 Level: Applicants must have at least 52 weeks of qualifying experience that provided knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities and substances; such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or other food or beverages for human consumption, or other ingestible substances, such as pharmaceuticals. Resume should demonstrate examples such as applying proper techniques for collecting samples and/or performing field tests and examinations, developing written reports and/or reporting findings of results orally, and/or skill in maintaining effective personal contacts with a variety of individuals, or other similar work making determinations on products for human consumption or the production environment. Such experience may have been acquired working in positions such as consumer safety inspector or inspection aide, food inspector, public health inspector, quality inspection specialist, or other related position.

For the GS-07 Level: In addition to the qualifications above, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 level), and incumbents are expected to have performed standard and recurrent duties on an independent basis. Resume should demonstrate at least 52 weeks of experience in independently carrying out routine, standard assignments on a regular and recurring basis that provided knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities and substances, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or other food for human consumption, and other ingestible substances, such as pharmaceuticals.

For the GS-08 Level: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-07 level). In addition to the qualifications above, experience must include working with the Federal Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products Inspection Acts in order to inspect meat, poultry, and egg products; working with basic SSOP and HACCP principles and practices in order to verify plant HACCP and SSOP responsibilities; performing basic mathematics and elementary statistical concepts and methods to perform testing and sampling procedures; and experience in reaching and interpreting conclusions.

For the GS-09 Level: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-08 level). In addition to the qualifications above, incumbents are expected to have experience working at a more independent level than lower graded CSIs, which may include duties such as recommending refusal of exports and providing temporary coverage at locations outside of the official duty station.

Benefits

• $5,000 Sign on Bonus: Newly appointed only.
• Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual: Calculated to determine the annual leave accrual rate.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
• $1,000 Employee Referral Bonus Award eligible: Paid to employees who refer applicants who are hired with FSIS.
• A comprehensive federal benefits package designed to support employees and their families.