What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sheet Metal Worker Helper position at USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)?
Find Your Future With Us at USDA – Animal Plant Health Inspection Service
Job Summary
The Aircraft and Equipment Operations (AEO) work unit located at Mission, Texas, is responsible for providing aircraft, equipment, and related services to support research and development, aerial application programs, aerial surveying, and distribution of sterile insects and/or bio-control agents as needed to support agricultural pest control programs.
Qualifications
To qualify, you must show you have had training and experience of sufficient scope and quality to provide you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Your answers to the vacancy specific questions must be supported by the work experience in your resume. For example, if you respond in the affirmative when questioned whether you have experience utilizing sheet metal cutting machines and sheet metal forming machines, your resume must include this experience, mindful that experience may not be inferred by job title. 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.
Major Duties
The duties may include, but are not limited to:Working at the helper level and under the direction of the shop foreman or higher graded sheet metal mechanic, the incumbent assists with fabricating specialized equipment.Assists higher graded sheet metal mechanics in operating, and maintaining as instructed, sheet metal cutting and forming machines, boring machines, punching machines, hand shears, hand files, etc.Assists the higher graded sheet metal mechanic to assemble equipment items and to join sheet metal parts, including soldering, welding, spot welding, riveting, locking seams, etc.Rough cuts parts as instructed from solid metal, plastic, or wood materials.Assists in building jigs and templates for the uniform assembly of a large quantity of parts.Occasional travel to pick up parts and supplies is required to support activities at the AEO.Retrieves, cleans, and replaces precision measuring devices such as micrometers, vernier calipers, dial indicators, depth gauges, protractors, and thickness gauges to assist higher graded employees.
Position Start Date:
04/17/2026
Position Close Date:
04/23/2026
Salary Offered: 25.49 - 29.74 USD Per Hour
You can make a difference! The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP) needs bright, energetic and committed professionals to facilitate the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and to protect the health and care of animals and plants in the United States. We operate in domestic and global markets. Be part of an organization that protects the health and agriculture of the American people. Join our team! To learn more about what it's like to work at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, what the agency does, and the types of careers, please visit the APHIS careers site. APHIS is an emergency response agency. This means that all Agency employees may be asked or assigned to participate in rotating temporary duty assignments to support emergency programs at some time during their careers with APHIS. For details click: APHIS Emergency Response
Please see the full announcement on USAJobs by clicking on the APPLY button!
Job Summary
The Aircraft and Equipment Operations (AEO) work unit located at Mission, Texas, is responsible for providing aircraft, equipment, and related services to support research and development, aerial application programs, aerial surveying, and distribution of sterile insects and/or bio-control agents as needed to support agricultural pest control programs.
Qualifications
To qualify, you must show you have had training and experience of sufficient scope and quality to provide you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Your answers to the vacancy specific questions must be supported by the work experience in your resume. For example, if you respond in the affirmative when questioned whether you have experience utilizing sheet metal cutting machines and sheet metal forming machines, your resume must include this experience, mindful that experience may not be inferred by job title. 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.
Major Duties
The duties may include, but are not limited to:Working at the helper level and under the direction of the shop foreman or higher graded sheet metal mechanic, the incumbent assists with fabricating specialized equipment.Assists higher graded sheet metal mechanics in operating, and maintaining as instructed, sheet metal cutting and forming machines, boring machines, punching machines, hand shears, hand files, etc.Assists the higher graded sheet metal mechanic to assemble equipment items and to join sheet metal parts, including soldering, welding, spot welding, riveting, locking seams, etc.Rough cuts parts as instructed from solid metal, plastic, or wood materials.Assists in building jigs and templates for the uniform assembly of a large quantity of parts.Occasional travel to pick up parts and supplies is required to support activities at the AEO.Retrieves, cleans, and replaces precision measuring devices such as micrometers, vernier calipers, dial indicators, depth gauges, protractors, and thickness gauges to assist higher graded employees.
Position Start Date:
04/17/2026
Position Close Date:
04/23/2026
Salary Offered: 25.49 - 29.74 USD Per Hour
You can make a difference! The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP) needs bright, energetic and committed professionals to facilitate the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and to protect the health and care of animals and plants in the United States. We operate in domestic and global markets. Be part of an organization that protects the health and agriculture of the American people. Join our team! To learn more about what it's like to work at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, what the agency does, and the types of careers, please visit the APHIS careers site. APHIS is an emergency response agency. This means that all Agency employees may be asked or assigned to participate in rotating temporary duty assignments to support emergency programs at some time during their careers with APHIS. For details click: APHIS Emergency Response
Please see the full announcement on USAJobs by clicking on the APPLY button!