Consumer Safety Inspector

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Miami, Florida, Claxton, Georgia, Catano, Puerto Rico, Roebuck, South Carolina

Salary Range: $40332 - $84607 Per Year

Job Summary: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is available. For more information please visit: PSLF Program. Shifts and species will vary based on assignment. For more information call Brian Tillman, Sidney Harris, or Lesa Hardaway at (404) 562-5900 or send an e-mail to FODO85RMARMS@usda.gov. For Claxton, one may be detailed to any shift at any plant in the Atlanta District and for the others one will primarily work in one plant but may be detailed to any shift at any plant in the Atlanta District.

Major Duties:

YOU WILL/MAY:
Ensure that regulated establishments produce a safe product by executing appropriate inspection methods, determining non-compliance with regulatory requirements, documenting noncompliance and initiating enforcement actions, where warranted.
Verify that meat and poultry slaughter and/or processing establishment's Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plans meet regulatory requirements.
Verify execution of Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plans effectively to prevent unsanitary conditions and adulteration of product.
Review records, observe plant operations and conduct hands-on verification to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and prepare detailed documentation (Non-Compliance Records) of non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
Determine when regulatory control action is necessary. You will assess whether the plant's corrective or preventative actions are acceptable and effective, if there are trends in noncompliance, or if an enforcement action is warranted.
Conduct regulatory oversight activities inside plants in matters relating to other consumer protections (e.g., economic adulteration and misbranding).
Have contact with plant managers, owners and others to explain legal and regulatory requirements, discuss operation of the plant's SSOP, HACCP plan and other food safety programs.
Communicate and defend determinations on non-compliance issues and discuss plans for addressing non-compliance.
Work with a variety of individuals to resolve problems, clarify differences of interpretation concerning HACCP and other food safety or consumer protection requirements.
Advise other Agency inspectors, supervisors and officers on inspection and enforcement matters for which you are involved.
Conduct various samplings, surveys and tests to obtain pertinent data on potential problem areas, industry trends, or other issues of current interest to the Agency.
Be involved in performing health and safety verification sampling and tests for detection of specific microbes (e.g., salmonella, listeria, etc.), residues or contaminants.
Assure that products approved for import are in full compliance with all applicable Federal regulations governing the importation of meat and poultry products.
Authorize entry of all meat or poultry products considered to comply with Federal regulations or refuse entry of any products which violate any of the requirements for admission into this country.
Coordinate with other Federal agencies (e.g., the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or U.S. Customs and Border Protection) on such matters as animal health restrictions and refused entry lots.

Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Time-In-Grade: Applicants must meet requirements for one year at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade. (e.g. one year at the GS-5 grade level for consideration for the GS-7 grade level.) Specialized experience: Specialized experience is experience that provided you with knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities or other products for human consumption. Such experience may have been acquired in work such as consumer safety inspector or inspection aide, food inspector, public health inspector, quality inspection specialist, or similar position with responsibility for sampling, quality control and sanitation in a food manufacturing or production environment, or similar environment for other ingestible items. See specific grade level specialized experience definitions below. For the GS-05 Level: Applicants must have at least 52 weeks of qualifying experience that provided knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities and substances; such as: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or other food or beverages for human consumption, or other ingestible substances, such as pharmaceuticals. You are to show in your resume examples such as applying proper techniques for collecting samples and/or performing field tests and examinations (e.g. identifying abnormalities in the product or production environment and recommending corrective actions), developing written reports and/or reporting findings of results orally (e.g. documenting abnormalities in the product or production environment and communicating those findings to others), and/or skill in maintaining effective personal contacts with a variety of individuals (e.g. discussing findings with internal or external contacts regarding the food safety standards established in the production environment), or other similar work making determinations on products for human consumption or the production environment (e.g. ensuring conformance with established standards). Such experience may have been acquired working positions such as consumer safety inspector or inspection aid, food inspector, public health inspector, quality inspection specialist, or other related position. For the GS-07 Level: In addition to the qualifications above, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 level), and incumbents are expected to have performed standard and recurrent duties on an independent basis. Your resume should demonstrate at least 52 weeks of experience in independently carrying out routine, standard assignments on a regular and recurring basis that provided you with knowledge of the properties and characteristics of regulated food commodities and substances; such as: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or other food for human consumption, and other ingestible substances, such as pharmaceuticals. For the GS-08 Level: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-07 level). In addition to the qualifications above, experience must include working with the Federal Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products Inspection Acts in order to inspect meat, poultry and egg products; working with basic SSOP and HACCP principles and practices in order to verify plant HACCP and SSOP responsibilities; performing basic mathematics and elementary statistical concepts and methods to perform testing and sampling procedures; and experience in reaching and interpreting conclusions. For the GS-09 Level: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-08 level). In addition to the qualifications above, incumbents are expected to have experience working at a more independent level than lower graded CSIs, which may include duties such as recommending refusal of exports and providing temporary coverage at locations outside of the official duty station. 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Please view OPM's Qualifications Standards, Consumer Safety Inspector Series, GS-1862. The duties of a Consumer Safety Inspector are performed in a hazardous working environment. For additional information, please click here. The below requirements are not an all-inclusive list. Failure to fully meet a functional requirement is not automatically disqualifying. Applicants must: Be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the job functions, without hazard to themselves and others. Have full range of motion to perform rapid repetitive twisting and working with arms above shoulder level. Be able to stand and walk on slippery and uneven floors and catwalks, and climbing stairs and ladders. Be able to lift, carry, push and pull up to 30 pounds, with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds. Have manual dexterity of the upper body, including arms, hands, and fingers with a normal sense of touch in both hands. Must have good near and distance vision, be free of chronic eye disease and have correctable vision of at least 20/40 in one eye. Have the ability to distinguish shades of color. Any significant degree of color blindness (more than 25 percent error rate on approved color plate test) may be disqualifying. Individuals with some hearing loss and/or requiring hearing amplification will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. NOTE: It is an applicant's responsibility to submit updated information. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status). If you do not have access to the Internet, you are strongly encouraged to visit your library, state employment office, or another establishment that provides internet service to complete the online application and the assessment questionnaire. If this is not an option, refer to the Alternative Methods for Applying section below for specific instructions. Alternative Methods for Applying: If you are unable to apply using the internet, please fax your request for an application package along with your name and mailing address to 1-833-840-9219.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-19