Senior Project Manager (Operating Reactor Licensing)

Duties

As the Senior Project Manager (Operating Reactor Licensing), you will provide leadership and manage the processing and review of all matters associated with assigned projects and licensing actions for operating nuclear power plants. You will provide technical and staff expertise in the areas of licensing actions, interfaces, and regulatory improvements. Additionally, you will: 1) serve as a headquarters focal point for oversight of assigned industry groups, owner's groups, or vendors; 2) utilize and/or develop proposals for changes to management directives, office instructions, rules, regulations, and procedures in carrying out complex projects; and 3) oversee the use and consideration of safety and security goals in all efforts. Work products reflect the use of risk insights and a risk-informed and performance-based philosophy, as appropriate. Additional duties include but are not limited to:

• Typically assigned as Sr. Project Manager to a single highly complex or controversial site or two or more sites.
• In response to requests from licensees, manages, coordinates, and routinely performs the safety and environmental reviews of applications for amendments to operating licenses and changes to the technical specifications (TSs).
• Evaluates responses to Commission generic communications, processes relief requests, license transfers, and exemptions from regulations, and evaluates decommissioning plans for assigned site(s).
• Prepares safety evaluations, environmental assessments, public notices, routine correspondence, etc., for final processing by clerical staff.
• Maintains an awareness of regulatory issues affecting licensing project management.
• Maintains cognizance of the current version of the Annual NRR Operating Plan relative to assigned activities. Processes licensee submittals in accordance with office and division policy (e.g., Office Instruction LIC-101, "License Amendment Review Procedures," for license amendments).
• Uses data to identify trends and enhance licensing process and procedures.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• This is a Drug Testing position.
• Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires.
• Subject to security ownership restriction reporting requirements.

To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the NRC will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent that an NRC job announcement includes the requirement that applicants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to Executive Order 14043, that requirement does not currently apply.

You must meet the qualifications for this position by no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GG/GS-13) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as: experience with the licensing, design, operation, regulation, or inspection of commercial power nuclear plants, related vendors, or other nuclear facilities.

A description of how you possess the specialized experience should be addressed in your resume and may also be addressed in the vacancy question provided for your supplemental response.

The IDEAL CANDIDATE will be able to demonstrate the following:

1. Knowledge of NRC requirements, policies, practices, and programs applicable to commercial nuclear power reactors. (Describe your experience and accomplishments regarding the depth and breadth of your knowledge of NRC requirements, policies, practices, and programs applicable to commercial nuclear power reactors. These examples should include experience in areas such as licensing, inspection, enforcement, technical review, etc. Include multiple examples of where you led or had a key role in applying your NRC knowledge in significant, complex situations.)

2. Ability to prioritize, plan, schedule, manage, and complete the review of technical and policy issues for licensing actions and related activities for commercial nuclear power reactors. (Describe your experience managing significant, unique, controversial, or complex projects related to the licensing of commercial nuclear reactors. Discuss examples of where you led significant, complex licensing projects. For each example, discuss the challenge of the project, context, your specific role and the actions you took, and the results, including the outcome and the impact on the design, licensing, operation, and/or regulation of commercial nuclear reactors.)

3. Ability to lead risk-informed decision-making and/or innovation and transformation related to the licensing and oversight of commercial nuclear power plants. (Describe your experience and accomplishments to leading change related to risk-informed decision-making and/or innovation and transformation. Discuss examples of where you led or had a lead role in significant, complex projects. For each example, discuss the challenge, context, the actions you took, and the results, including the outcome and the impact on the organization.)

4. Ability to communicate technical and policy issues, both orally and in writing. (Describe specific experience, training, and accomplishments that demonstrate your ability to effectively communicate technical and policy issues. Describe your ability to prepare written documents such as licensing actions, inspection reports, technical information proposals, significant briefings, and public communications. Provide at least three specific examples for both written and oral communication with particular focus on coordinating integrated team reviews, risk-informed decision making, leading change, and conducting meetings with diverse stakeholders and management. Be sure to describe the audience, the nature and complexity of the communication, and the outcome of such communication. Be sure to specify with whom you communicated.)

5. Ability to negotiate technical positions and resolve differing technical views to reach consensus and to establish effective working relationships with various audiences. (Describe specific experience that demonstrates your ability to resolve technical differences to reach consensus on technical issues. Discuss examples of where you led or had a lead role in resolving differences to reach consensus in significant, complex situations. Describe your experience in establishing effective working relationships with executives as various levels, supervisors, subordinates, peers, vendors, professional associations, the public, and government and industry officials. Describe challenges you encountered in working relationships and how you utilized your interpersonal skills to resolved them. For each example, discuss the challenge, context, the actions you took, and the results, including the outcome and the impact on the organization.)

A description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate should be addressed in your resume.

Education

You must include an unofficial or official copy of your college and/or university transcripts with your application. Education must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of credibility of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. If you have multiple degrees (e.g., BS, MS, PhD) please submit transcripts for each degree.

GG-0801 (General Engineering Series):

Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.

Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.

Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

GG-1301, (General Physical Science Series):

Basic requirements: Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

OR

Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Additional information

The duty location of this position is Rockville, MD. In general, employees are expected to be in the office 4 days per pay period. Telework schedules are approved, on a case-by-case basis. If selected, telework will be determined in accordance with Agency policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, if applicable.

Based on the staffing needs of the agency/area of consideration, additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement.

The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Individuals with disabilities may contact the Selective Placement Coordinator for assistance with the application or hiring process via Disability.Resource@nrc.gov. Deaf applicants may contact the Disability Program Manager by calling the NRC videophone at 240-428-3217.

Individuals who are eligible for non-competitive appointment under an OPM special appointing authority may apply for consideration under a comparable NRC non-competitive appointing authority. Veterans, please visit: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/

Selectee's will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine their suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. False statements or responses on your resume or questionnaire can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.

A transferable security clearance from another agency or a background investigation leading to a clearance is required for all new hires. To begin work at the NRC without a security clearance, you must be granted a temporary waiver of the required clearance, referred to as a 145(b) waiver. To be eligible for a 145(b) waiver you will need a favorable education verification, reference, credit, and criminal history checks. If a wavier is granted, the successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication is required for continued employment. If you have resided outside the U.S. for an extended period of time, the agency may not be able to (1) grant the 145(b) waiver where the required investigation cannot be completed in a timely manner, or (2) achieve timely completion of the background investigation required for a security clearance.

The NRC is a zero tolerance agency with respect to illegal drug use. Individuals selected for this position will be subject to pre-appointment drug testing unless currently in a NRC position subject to random drug testing AND will be subject to random drug testing upon appointment to the NRC.