Director, National Wildlife Research Center

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Department of Agriculture

Job Summary

This position is designed as a SES, Career-Reserved. USDA structures its SES positions into position levels. This is a position level one. Exceptions to the salary cap may be considered in certain circumstances. SES employees are also eligible to receive bonuses and performance-based awards. Visit http://www.opm.gov/ses/for additional information and benefits for SES employees.

Major Duties

  • Serves as the Director, Wildlife Services (WS), National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in Fort. Collins, CO. Duties include but are not limited to:
  • Develops strategic and operational plans that ensure effective NWRC support for the contributions to WS' mission, reflecting a high level of awareness of program priorities and goals.
  • Provides leadership and oversight for the WS NWRC, including research, wildlife disease and emergency response functions, and ensures NWRC mission focus on methods development.
  • Champions the WS Strategic Plan and supports implementation of National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee recommendations throughout the national research program of Wildlife Services.
  • Participates in the formulation and administration of plans, policies and objectives.
  • Leads the development, direction and implementation of laboratory and field research cooperative programs with Federal, Tribal, State, local government officials and other interested groups, organizations and individuals.
  • Directs the conduct of WS Research Needs Assessment Process, which is a basis for national methods development and research priorities.
  • Oversees complex budgetary systems associated with NWRC research facility operations and numerous multi-year research projects throughout the United States.
  • Provides scientific leadership within the areas of evaluation, testing and development of new technologies/materials to be applied in wildlife damage management programs as the Federal, Tribal, State, and private land owned level.
  • Responsible for the Center's $150 million plus Master Plan, which includes Wildlife Science, Animal Research, Invasive Species and a Bio-Safety Level 3 Suite Buildings as well as Outdoor Animal Research Facilities.
  • Represents the APHIS Administrator and other senior USDA officials at national and international meetings and may serve on inter-and intra-Agency and Departmental scientific panels, boards and committees.
  • Negotiates with cooperating Federal and State officials, industry groups, special interest groups, and individuals to develop, revise, and adopt agreements to effect cooperative wildlife damage research and management programs nationwide.
  • Implements provisions of: 1. Homeland Security Presidential Directive #9.
  • Promotes equal opportunity and employs nondiscriminatory practices for promotion, recruitment and hiring of applicants; encouragement, recognition and fair treatment of all employees; and career development and full utilization of employee?s skills.

Qualifications

YOU MUST UPLOAD YOUR RESPONSES TO THE EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs) AND TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs). As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as: - Directing the work of an organizational unit;

- Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects;

- Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance; and

- Supervising the work of employees; and exercising important policy-making, policy determining, or other executive functions. Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): The ECQs were designed to assess executive experience and potential not technical expertise. They measure whether an individual has the broad executive skills needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions. All applicants must submit a written narrative to address the ECQs. Your narrative must address and identify each ECQ separately and should contain at least two examples per ECQ describing your experiences and accomplishments/results. The narrative should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments, policy Initiatives undertaken and the results of your actions. Applicants should not enter "Refer to Resume" to explain your answer. The narrative must not exceed 10 pages. NOTE: Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates who have been certified by OPM do NOT need to address the ECQs. 1. Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. (Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision) 2. Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organizations vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. (Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building) 3. Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. (Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility) 4. Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. (Competencies: financial management, human capital management, technology management) 5. Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. (Competencies: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating) Fundamental Competencies: These competencies are the foundation for success in each of the Executive Core Qualifications: Interpersonal Skills, Oral Communication, Continual Learning, Written Communication, Integrity/Honesty, Public Service Motivation. The Fundamental Competencies are crosscutting; and should be addressed over the course of each ECQ narratives. It is not necessary for you to address the Fundamental Competencies directly as long as the narrative, in its totality, shows mastery of these competencies on the whole. Applicants are highly encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action and Result (C-C-A-R) model outlined in the guide. Challenge - Describe a specific problem or goal. Context - Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale). Action - Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge. Result - Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills. Additional information about the SES and Executive Core Qualifications can be found on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) SES Website. You are strongly encouraged to review OPMs Guide to SES Qualifications for specific examples and guidance on writing effective ECQ narrative statements. MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative response to the following TQs. You must address each TQ separately. Each TQ narratives must not exceed two (2) pages. Please give examples and explain the complexity of the knowledge possessed and the sensitivity of the issued you handled. 1. Describe an experience/accomplishment that demonstrates your effective leadership in wildlife management research and/or wildlife management methods development to support wildlife management goals and priorities. Include descriptions of your ability to envision and achieve improvements that positively affect stakeholders, including the larger organization within which your work unit resided. 2. Describe an experience/accomplishment that demonstrates your effectiveness in communication, employee engagement, collaboration and consensus building to achieve operational wildlife management and/or wildlife management research and development priorities.

Pay Range

$131,239.00 - $197,300.00

More information...

End Date: 

Monday, February 3, 2020