In fiscal year 2008 alone, the FDA is looking to fill more than 600 new positions and to backfill over 700 others to implement the FDA Amendments Act of 2007, the Food Protection Plan and the Import Safety Action Plan.
The Office of Personnel Management has granted Direct-Hire Authority to the FDA, an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services. The critical need occupations are medical officers, consumer safety officers, chemists, nurse consultants, biologists, microbiologists, health/regulatory/general health scientists, mathematical statisticians, epidemiologists, pharmacologists, pharmacists and veterinary medical officers.
Positions will be available throughout the agency, including in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, the National Center for Toxicological Research, the Office of the Commissioner and the Office of Regulatory Affairs.
John Dyer, FDA’s deputy commissioner for Operations and COO, said: “It takes a large pool of talented people for the FDA to protect and promote the public health. Each month there is a delay in bringing critical staff on board impairs the agency’s ability to fulfill this mission.”