Duties

As a Reactor Systems Engineer (Cyber), you will be responsible for analyzing the impact of cyberattacks on digital systems associated with safety-related, important-to-safety, security, and emergency preparedness functions at NRC-licensed facilities (e.g., nuclear power plants).

Duties include but are not limited to:

Using knowledge of facility systems and operations to review plant-specific critical systems and critical digital assets to determine the potential adverse impacts from cyberattacks.

Providing technical support for the development of cybersecurity requirements and associated regulatory guidance.

Supporting review and inspection of licensee/applicant cybersecurity programs and implementation.

Developing technical bases for agency positions related to cybersecurity for NRC licensees.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• This is a Drug Testing position.
• Must be able to meet/maintain security & suitability 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 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

Knowledge of and an ability to interpret and apply rules, regulations, policies, guidelines, practices, and procedures related to the operation, licensing, and inspection or nuclear facilities.

Demonstrated knowledge of the principles, theory, and practices in the field of engineering related to nuclear facilities with an emphasis on cybersecurity for digital systems associated with safety, security, and emergency preparedness functions.

Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate technical information both orally and in writing.

Demonstrated ability to develop and implement successful approaches to problem solving, conflict resolution, apply effective decision-making using available information and risk insights.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as experience working directly with or inspecting digital systems associated with safety, security, and emergency preparedness functions at NRC-licensed facilities, which demonstrates the ability to understand and assess the potential cyber vulnerabilities and threats associated with those systems.

Education

Qualification for All Professional Engineering 0800 Series:

Basic Requirements:

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.)

More detailed information about these alternatives are described in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Qualification Standards Operating Manual which may be accessed at the following website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/

Additional information

The duty location of this position is Rockville, Maryland. In general, employees are expected to be in the office at a minimum of 4 days per pay period**. Telework schedules, including full-time telework, 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.