Staff Specialist
The incumbent provides complex administrative support and performs staff analytical and evaluative duties in support of the Associate Deputy Administrator and Executive Director of D&B (Diagnostics and Biologics), as well as the D&B Leadership Team.
Qualifications
- To qualify, you MUST meet all program and qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
- To be eligible, applicants must meet one of the following requirements:
- Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two (2) years.
- Individuals who, due to military service obligation, were precluded from applying to the Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period described above shall have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. This eligibility period cannot extend more than 6 years from the date on which the requirements for the academic course of study were met.
- Maintaining multiple tasks, serving as a point of contact, and providing administrative support to high-level officials.
- Producing clear and concise quality documents, reports, meeting minutes, and correspondence using appropriate grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
- Using common/standard office suite software to prepare correspondence, meeting notes, reports, calendars, presentations, and spreadsheets.
- To qualify based on graduate level education, you must have a class standing in the upper third of the graduating class, membership in a national scholastic honor society (excluding Freshman honor societies), or meet certain GPA requirements.
- GPA requirements: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on official transcripts or as computed based on 4 years of education, or courses completed during the final 2 year of the curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required course completed in the major field or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum (GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, e.g., 2.95 rounds to 3.0 and 2.94 rounds to 2.9).
- To qualify based on combination of education and experience, the total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.
- Major Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Performing a variety of administrative support functions which require in-depth knowledge of APHIS policies and procedures regarding travel and time and attendance.
- Conducting studies of clerical work processes in order to identify, analyze, and recommend solutions to problems in organizational structures and staffing.
- Through special projects, gathering information and designing special reports relating to operational and/or administrative matters.
- Reviewing and analyzing new administrative policy issuances to determine the influence on programs.
- Cooking travel commitments and complex schedule maneuvering for the program Associate Deputy Administrator and Executive Director.
- Serving as point of contact to stakeholders, responding to phone inquiries and requests for program information.
- Establishing, maintaining, archiving, and purging files and documents in accordance with agency records management directives, policies, regulations, and procedures.
- Position Start Date: 07/28/2026
- Position Close Date: 08/03/2026
- Salary Offered: 50869 - 66132 USD Per Year
GS-07 Level Qualifications
Education Requirements
Experience Requirements
Position Details
You can make a difference! The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP) needs bright, energetic and committed professionals to facilitate the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and to protect the health and care of animals and plants in the United States. We operate in domestic and global markets. Be part of an organization that protects the health and agriculture of the American people. Join our team!
To learn more about what it's like to work at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, what the agency does, and the types of careers, please visit the APHIS careers site. APHIS is an emergency response agency. This means that all Agency employees may be asked or assigned to participate in rotating temporary duty assignments to support emergency programs at some time during their careers with APHIS. For details click: APHIS Emergency Response