Duties

• Serves as the area specialist in various analysis techniques for environmental, industrial hygiene and/or clinical samples.
• Conducts literature searches to determine the methods and procedures appropriate to obtain information requested and, modifies or adapts instrumental techniques and procedures to complete assignments.
• Prepares environmental, clinical, and/or industrial hygiene samples for various toxic contaminants with various extraction, digestion, and wet chemical techniques.
• Analyzes environmental, clinical, and/or industrial hygiene samples by various instrumental analysis techniques such as spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods.
• Plans work to be accomplished within regulatory holding times, distributes and balances workload among other technicians, and reviews completed work for technical accuracy.
• Determines equipment and supply needs and provides recommendations on new instruments and analytical techniques.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• The incumbent is required to wear personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, lab coats, appropriate gloves and steel toe shoes while performing duties.
• May be subject to a two-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

To Qualify at the GS-07 Physical Science Technician:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the Federal service which includes:
1.) Performing sample analysis and/or preparation in a laboratory setting following published procedures or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
2.) Performing required analytical method Quality Control (QC); and
3.) Accurately documenting records related to assigned laboratory procedures.
This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-06).
OR
Education: One full academic year of graduate level education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as astronomy, physics, geophysics, chemistry, hydrology, health physics, engineering, electronics, geology, oceanography, and metallurgy.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.

To Qualify at the GS-08 Physical Science Technician:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service which includes:
1.) Performing chemical analysis and/or preparation of environmental or occupational health sample matrices following published methods or Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs)
2.) Evaluating analytical method Quality Control (QC); and
3.) Accurately reporting laboratory analysis results.
This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).
OR
Education: one and a half years (i.e., 27 semester hours) of graduate level education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as astronomy, physics, geophysics, chemistry, hydrology, health physics, engineering, electronics, geology, oceanography, and metallurgy.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the first year (total semester hours minus 18) by 9. Add the two percentages.

To qualify at the GS-09 Physical Science Technician:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-08 grade level in the Federal service which includes:
1.) Utilizing a variety of analytical laboratory instrumentations and techniques to analyze environmental and industrial hygiene samples to determine chemical composition and toxic constituents;
2.) Reviewing data to include reporting results with any required data qualifiers, and
3.) Provide input for modifying existing standard operations procedures for sample analysis.
This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-08).
OR
Education: Master's degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as astronomy, physics, geophysics, chemistry, hydrology, health physics, engineering, electronics, geology, oceanography, and metallurgy.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Education

***YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR OFFICIAL EDUCATIONAL TRANSCRIPTS EVEN IF YOU ARE A CURRENT FEDERAL EMPLOYEE***

EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

This announcement uses the direct hire authority to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to certain positions in the competitive service.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Career Program (CP) 16 - Engineers & Scientists position.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
• Due to COVID-19, the agency is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement within a designated time frame identified by the organization. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework one or more days a pay period depending upon the terms of the agency's telework policy.
• Information may be requested regarding the vaccination status of selectees for the purposes of implementing workplace safety protocols. For more information, visit https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/faq/vaccinations/ .