Animal Health Technician

Summary

This position is located in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Plains Area, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, KS.

In this position, you will be responsible for 1) animal acquisitions and care outside the containment facilities and 2) managing and directly supporting the medical care of animals in the containment facilities.

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Duties

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• Works with a wide range of animals such as cattle, pigs, horses, and laboratory animals.
• Follows strict containment, sanitary or sterile procedures when working within the containment barrier and when working with animals.
• Communicates and collaborates professionally with other personnel, procures animals and considers space availability, required equipment, animal care, and species suitability.
• Complies with state and county regulations in dealing with animals, animal transportation, and controlled substance documentation.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period unless previous federal service is creditable.
• Motor Vehicle or Commercial Driver's License Required.
• Drug Test Required
• Vaccine(s) Required
• Special Physical Requirements/Demands (May wear fully encapsulated suit.)
• SAC and full background investigation required for positions working with BSL-3 (or higher) agents, or in BSL-3/BSL-4 facilities
• Department of Justice (DOJ) Security Risk Assessment (SRA) approval is required.
• Respirator fitting and certification is required

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement ncluding specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

GS-08:

Specialized Experience : Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-08 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-07 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience assisting in an experiment or research project related to animal science; collecting animal specimens (i.e. blood, feces, urine, tissue); maintaining data collected from animal research; and ensuring activities are in compliance with policies, laws, or regulations.

GS-09:

Specialized Experience : Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-08 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience participating in a research project related to animal science; operating and maintaining equipment and supplies used in veterinary care; quarantine procedures; and operating software systems to input data, track actions and produce technical reports related to animal husbandry.

OR

Education: Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree, if directly related to the position. Related degrees may include Animal Science, Biology, Biosafety, Animal Behavior, Laboratory Animal Medicine, or Veterinary Science.

OR

Combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above.

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

Physical Demands:

• When not working with animals, the work involves sitting at a desk within containment (approximately 30- 50%), walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items. In working with animals (collecting of biological specimens and observation and treatment of newly received and blood donor animals), moderate to heavy physical exertion is required (moving equipment and carcasses up to 60 pounds with appropriate support). Stooping, bending, reaching and active walking is required. The work also requires the ability to move quickly around animals that may be unrestrained, possibly unpredictable, and not accustomed to handling by humans. Some travel may be required.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks or respirators, boots, gloves, and coveralls may be used to perform laboratory and animal related tasks. The work may involve wearing a fully encapsulated positive pressure suit in the ABSL4 animal containment areas.

Work Conditions:

• The work is performed in an office, indoor and outdoor animal holding facilities, necropsy rooms and laboratories. Temperature extremes are possible. It also involves exposure to disagreeable odors when working around animals and may involve exposure to the risks and hazards of harmful biological, chemical, and physical agents, such as, but not limited to high consequence pathogens. There is the potential for exposure to highly contagious diseases of animals and humans, and to fractious animals. For the health and safety of the incumbent and to prevent the spread of disease, immunization against diseases being studied at NBAF which are transmissible to humans may be required where the vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safety and effectiveness under the provisions of the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended, 21 USC 321-392. Where the FDA for investigation purposes has approved the vaccine, the incumbent will be advised that such immunization is voluntary.
• Restrictions against contact with birds and livestock outside the laboratory may apply after entering high security animal facilities that are working with disease agents foreign to the United States.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks or respirators, boots, gloves, and coveralls may be used to perform laboratory and animal related tasks that represent a potential source of zoonotic disease or other biohazard. Incumbent may be required to wear a fully encapsulated positive pressure suit in BSL4 animal holding rooms.
• Various forms of respiratory protection equipment must be worn when working with certain infectious agents, chemicals, and animal allergens.
• Certain environments may also necessitate the use of hearing protection.
• PPE provides necessary protection against biological and chemical hazards but may increase the risk of accidents due to decreased vision, hampered communication, limited mobility and dexterity. Physical well-being may be compromised by the prolonged usage of the PPE, which may lead to labored respiration, heat stress and dehydration. Strict agent safety regulations are applied to prevent the escape of animal pathogens from the work environment.
• The health status of personnel is monitored periodically using biologic and serologic tests and physical examinations.

The mission of NBAF includes research, diagnosis and training for animal diseases foreign to the U.S. for the purpose of protecting American agriculture and domestic food sources from their potentially devastating effects. NBAF is vital to successfully protecting U.S. Agriculture from the intentional or non-intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth disease. The position supports the biocontainment facilities and may require entry into biosafety level (BSL)-3, -3 enhanced, 3-Ag, 4, and 4A-g labs. The incumbent must demonstrate the physical and psychological capability to conduct normal duties that are appropriate to their position. To prevent the transmission of disease out of biocontainment and retention of the position, the incumbent must meet the following medical standards in a pre-employment medical examination conducted after the receipt of a preliminary job offer and on a periodic basis:

• Ability to shower out of biocontainment one or more times per day;
• Not have any skin condition which would prevent this;
• Body piercings must be able to be removed prior to entry;
• External medical assist devices must have the ability to be removed prior to entering or not impede the ability to enter biocontainment, and the individual must still be able to shower out safely without assistance;
• Ability to follow instructions regarding decontamination from biocontainment;
• Any medical condition which could create an unsafe environment for the individual or his/her co-workers, such as: insufficient control of a medical disorder which could result in sudden loss of consciousness; and inadequate vision and hearing required for safety in a laboratory environment.

Education

See above for Education requirements.

Work Conditions:

A baseline blood sample may be required for employees entering and working in the biocontainment facilities. For the health and safety of the incumbent and to prevent the spread of disease, immunization against diseases being studied at NBAF which are transmissible to humans may be required where the vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for safety and effectiveness under the provision of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as amended 21 USC 321-392. Where the vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for investigational purposes, the incumbent will be advised that such immunization is voluntary.

Medical confidentiality will be maintained by the examining physician and only fitness (or unfit) for duty determination will be indicated. The incumbent will also be required to pass periodic fitness for duty physicals. In addition, a medical clearance will be required in the event that it becomes necessary to enter an area where an air purifying respirator or other respiratory protection is required.

Due to the contagious nature to livestock of Foot-and-Mouth disease, and other diseases under study at NBAF, Biological Safety Regulations specify a personal quarantine for employees working in BSL-3, -3 enhanced, -3 Ag, 4, and 4Ag-biocontainment. As a condition for employment, all personnel entering the BSL-3 or higher biocontainment facilities at NBAF shall not be in contact with specific susceptible animals and their premises away from NBAF for a period of five (5) days after leaving bio-containment. This role will be expected to be in containment daily. Currently, restricted species are cattle, sheep, goats, deer, other ruminants, and swine. Contact with horses, birds (agricultural and pet birds) and rabbits are normally permitted, but restrictions may be placed on staff working with or near contagious agents affecting these species. Restricted livestock or other restricted animals may not be housed on the premises where the employee lives and where quarantine cannot be enforced. Employees who violate this requirement may be removed from employment or subject to other disciplinary action. Additionally, an approved SRA investigation is required for access to select agent registered spaces.

May be required to receive extra vaccinations to work on specific projects, submit to blood tests, and a respiratory/pulmonary function test.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.

This is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). Selectee must submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and random testing thereafter. Final appointment and continued employment is conditional on negative results for illegal drug use.

if you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.

This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.