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Agronomist

Employer
USDA
Job Description, Responsibilities and Required Qualifications or Skills
  • Provides technical leadership and assistance in agronomic, precision agriculture, and soil health to individual land users or groups of land users.
  • Assesses and evaluates soil and water resource management problems and farming practices on individual or multiple tracts of land in the assigned area.
  • Evaluates effectiveness of agronomic practices, identify technical problems and/or deficiencies, recommend improvements, and motivate landowners to implement and maintain sound conservation management systems.
  • Assists with vegetative and management practices to secure a balanced program of soil and moisture conservation.
  • Provides technical assistance in promoting conservation tillage, crop rotations and nutrient and pest management through tours, conferences, and direct assistance to field office personnel and producers.
  • Assists in conducting on-the-job and formal training in agronomy to internal and external customers, providing information to field offices on agronomic techniques for inventorying, analyzing, and selecting treatment alternatives.

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.
  • Satisfactory Background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year trial period.
  • 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Signed participant agreement is required for employment under Pathways.
  • This position requires the incumbent to possess and maintain a valid state driver's license.
  • Duty Location may change based upon training needs or upon conversion to competitive service.

Qualifications

(NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts. Failure to submit transcripts will result in an ineligible rating.)

Basic Requirements:

For the GS-05 level:

  • Degree: Degree: agronomy; or related discipline of science that included at least 30 semester hours of course work in the basic plant sciences, including at least 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, such as those dealing with plant breeding, crop production, and soil and crop management.
  • Combination of education and experience: at least 30 semester hours in the basic plant sciences, including a minimum of 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
  • Evaluation of Education: Course work in such subjects as botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant breeding or genetics, plant ecology, plant pathology, microbiology, agronomy, or those dealing with basic soil-water-plant relationships of an agronomic or ecologic nature may be used to meet the 30-semester-hour requirement in the basic plant sciences. Agronomy courses include agronomy, field crops, field crop production or management, soil and crop management, plant breeding and development, weed control, and similar courses, including those in soils, biochemistry, plant physiology, etc., provided they dealt with principles, methods, or procedures that are applied directly in agronomic work and in the solving of agronomic problems.

GS-7 Grade Level: In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualification requirement in order to be considered for this position:

  • Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level or higher in the Federal service (or private sector equivalent) demonstrating experience and knowledge of agronomy, hydrology, biology, soils, and practical engineering techniques and other natural resource conservation principles, methods and techniques. Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and practices applicable to soil health, crop science and soil science;
  • OR Superior academic achievement in a bachelor's degree a curriculum directly related to the work of the position. To qualify for superior academic achievement, you must have ONE of the following: (1) standing in the upper third of your college class or major subdivision at the time you apply; (2) grade point average of B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or its equivalent for all courses completed, either (a) at the time of application or (b) during the last 2 years of your undergraduate curriculum; (3) B+ (3.5 on a 4.0 scale) or its equivalent for all courses completed in a related discipline, either (a) at the time of application or (b) during the last 2 years of your undergraduate curriculum; OR (4) election to membership in one of the national honorary scholastic societies that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Society;
  • OR Education Substitution: (1) one year of graduate-level education in soil conservation or related agricultural or natural resource discipline such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, agricultural education, or agricultural engineering.
  • OR Possess a combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above, may be used to qualify for this position. This combination must have equipped you with the necessary knowledge and/or experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outlined in OPM Qualifications policy.

GS-9 Grade Level: In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualification requirement in order to be considered for this position:

  • Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher in the Federal service (or private sector equivalent). For this position, examples of specialized experience include advanced-trainee level experience such as: providing technical guidance and direct assistance to personnel and producers to carry out natural resource's conservation planning and application for agronomic practices; solve complex agronomic problems on individual farms or group projects; and assist with vegetative and management practices to secure a balanced program of soil and moisture conservation, and, assists in the development of resource management systems
  • OR Substitution of Education in Lieu of Specialized Experience: 2 or more years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree in agronomy or a directly related discipline.
  • OR Possess a combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above, may be used to qualify for this position. This combination must have equipped you with the necessary knowledge and/or experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outlined in OPM Qualifications policy.
Job Field:
Other
Job Type:
Full Time
Location Detail:
Many vacancies
Salary:
$39,576 - $94,317 per year

Job Benefits:

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.

Learn more about federal benefits.

Application Deadline:

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