Veterinary Medical Officer

About the role

The incumbent serves as a Senior Veterinary Medical Officer with nationwide authority and responsibility across multiple mission-critical areas within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Managing complex policy, technical expertise, regulatory functions and related authorities. Your work may have national implications in protecting animals, plants, and personnel from disease of epidemic proportions.

Responsibilities

• Guides national policy development for the veterinary biologics industry within multi-disciplinary teams to ensure consistent, compliant regulatory frameworks.
• Evaluates domestic and foreign biologics for suitability during foreign animal disease emergencies and provides expert recommendations to leadership.
• Represents APHIS in national and external engagements with federal and state partners, industry, and scientific stakeholders.
• Supports national emergency readiness through guidance on biologics acquisition strategies and regulatory pathways.
• Provides superior customer service, resource management and information sharing, and contributes to modernizing information technology infrastructure and support services, to deliver timely, accurate and easily accessible knowledge to customers and stakeholders.
• Reviews applications for US Veterinary Biologic Establishment Licenses, Product Licenses and Permits for conformance with the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act.
• Reviews and evaluates the manufacturing, immunological, microbiological, and clinical effects of new veterinary biological products (vaccines, antibody therapies, and diagnostic test kits).
• Evaluates production methods, validation data, and risk factors for domestic and foreign biologics and advises on national regulatory impacts.
• Provides expert evaluation of veterinary biological products or lead development of advanced diagnostic and laboratory testing methods, including virology and molecular biology tools for animal disease detection.
• Lead and advise senior leadership on highly complex, sensitive, or precedent setting import and export regulatory cases, applying authoritative judgment and cross-agency problem-solving.

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.

Qualifications

• BASIC REQUIREMENT: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent degree, i.e., Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD), obtained at a school or college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA).
• FOR THE GS-14 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-13 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:
• Provide expert evaluation of veterinary biological products or lead development of advanced diagnostic and laboratory testing methods, including virology and molecular biology tools for animal disease detection.
• Lead and advise senior leadership on highly complex, sensitive, or precedent setting import and export regulatory cases, applying authoritative judgment and cross agency problem solving.
• Providing superior customer service, resource management and information sharing, and contributing to modernizing information technology infrastructure and support services, to deliver timely, accurate and easily accessible knowledge to customers and stakeholders.
• Develops policy regarding animal diagnostic testing or vaccines impacting the national or international animal health industry.