Agricultural Commodity Grader (Specialty Crops)

Agricultural Marketing Service • Winter Haven, FL

13h

About The Position

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division develops U.S. grade standards and provides nationwide inspection, grading, certification, and audit-based services on a user-fee basis for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables and related products. The incumbent serves as a grader at an inspection point, processing facility, or area office laboratory. Applicants may select up to three locations.

At the full-performance level, the grader samples and inspects commodities, determines product quality, condition, wholesomeness, and compliance with official standards or contract specifications, and issues grading certificates. In difficult or unusual cases, the grader prepares a draft certificate with a tentative determination for higher-level review. The work also includes evaluating processing facilities and operations for compliance with SCI sanitation requirements and FDA regulations, advising plant management on raw-product suitability for processing, and instructing technicians and aides in grading and inspection techniques. Developmental-grade assignments have more limited scope, complexity, and independence.

This is mobile work involving routine travel to customer or other worksites. The position may require extended travel, weekend and overtime work, and multiple or rotating shifts. Physical duties include lifting and moving heavy product packages, prolonged standing and walking, and other exertion. A valid state driver's license is required at the time of application. Geographic mobility is a condition of employment.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship or national status.
• Selective Service registration or exemption for individuals born male after December 31, 1959.
• Satisfactory background investigation and/or fingerprint check; successful E-Verify employment verification; and participation in Continuous Vetting.
• Successful completion of a one-year probationary period unless previously served.
• Valid state driver's license at the time of application.
• Pre-employment medical statement and/or examination.
• Normal or corrected vision in at least one eye for distance, depth perception, and color detection of product abnormalities.
• Adequate or correctable hearing to assure safety in highly mechanized and/or noisy environments.
• Ability to use both legs, arms, and hands for carrying, pulling, pushing, reaching above the shoulder, kneeling, grasping, and working with hands in water.
• Ability to assess product quality organoleptically, including through sight, smell, and/or taste.
• For GS-05: Three years of general, progressively responsible experience, including one year equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to GS-04, demonstrating problem identification or solution recognition, work planning and organization, and use of office software such as Adobe, Excel, or Word; qualifying experience must show relevant knowledge, skills, abilities, and decision-making responsibility. Alternatively, completion of a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• For GS-07: One year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-05 involving grading or inspecting products using standards and regulations, drawing product samples, and identifying and describing common product defects and/or diseases; alternatively, one full year of relevant graduate-level education, superior academic achievement with a bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Sign a memorandum of understanding acknowledging geographic mobility as a condition of employment; failure to sign results in withdrawal of the offer.

Responsibilities

• Select representative samples from product lots according to prescribed sampling plans.
• Inspect products to determine quality, condition, and compliance with U.S. Grade Standards or contract specifications.
• Prepare and maintain reports related to production data and grading results.
• Apply official standards and regulations to determine product grade or condition and issue certificates.
• Prepare draft certificates with tentative determinations for higher-level review in difficult or unusual cases.
• Examine product samples and determine grade, condition, and wholesomeness according to official grade standards, buyer-seller contracts, or other specifications.
• Assess whether plant facilities, operating methods, processing equipment, and personnel comply with SCI sanitation requirements and FDA regulations.
• Evaluate raw product material for processing suitability and advise plant management of the results.
• Instruct technicians and aides in proper grading and inspection techniques.

Benefits

• Federal employees receive access to a comprehensive benefits package for themselves and their families; specific eligibility depends on position type.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed