Duties

Summary

What General Information Do I Need To Know About This Position?

• The government-wide direct hire authority for Physical Scientist, GS-1301 is being used to fill this position.
• Salary: $83,398 (Step 01) to $108,442 (Step 10); NOTE: First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.
• This position is in a bargaining unit.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As a Physical Scientist within the National Minerals Information Center , some of your specific duties will include:

• Serves as a technical expert and principal USGS contact for the global mineral commodity market. Must be able to communicate in one or more of the languages: French, German, Italian, or Spanish.
• Collect, analyze, interpret, validate, and synthesize economic, scientific, and sociopolitical information to prepare specialized reports on the mineral sector of a set of assigned countries within one region of the world or more.
• Analyze literature and data from foreign and domestic sources in the English language and/or one or more of the languages described above to prepare mineral sector country reports.
• Ability to work independently or in a group to develop specialized projects with a mineral-related global perspective, and collaboratively within a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment both domestically and internationally.
• Monitors and evaluates available information and data for usefulness, reliability and potential impacts on industry or industries associate with various mineral commodities.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional overnight travel may be required for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
12

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
• More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.

This vacancy is limited to the first 35 applications received and will close at midnight Eastern Time on the day this application limit is reached regardless of the closing date specified in this vacancy announcement. Any application received prior to midnight Eastern Time of the day the application limit is reached will be accepted and considered. You are strongly encouraged to submit all required supporting documents at the time of application should the vacancy close earlier than stated in this announcement due to the applicant limit being reached. Supporting documents will not be accepted once the vacancy announcement closes.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?

• Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued.
• A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Physical Scientist, all grade levels.

A. Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

**OR

B. A combination of education and experience--education equivalent to one of the majors shown in "A" above (24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science, engineering, or mathematics) that included at least 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science as described above, plus appropriate experience and/or additional education for a total of 4 years. The education or combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in "A" above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE)

For GS-12:

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-12 level: One year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service, and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Examples of such experience may include planning and executing complex physical science studies, which usually involved intensive investigations into recognized phenomena. This work typically involved conventional methods and techniques though it required going beyond clear precedents, and required adapting methods to the problems at hand and interpreting findings in terms of their scientific significance. At this level, physical scientists have the ability to independently perform scientific work of considerable difficulty.

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

• 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
• Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs .

Additional information

• Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
• Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position.
• USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations.
• The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.
• DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify .
• THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

--Basis of Rating: The government-wide direct hire authority for Physical Scientist, GS-1301 is being used to fill this position. All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and minimum qualification requirements will be referred for consideration.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

--If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) or list of course work, which includes semester hours earned and grade received, by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. This proof may be faxed, document uploaded, or hand delivered to the servicing Human Resources Office (see "Required Documents" and/or "Contact Information"). Please ensure that all documentation is legible.

--If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, the Servicing Human Resources Office must receive proof by the closing date of this announcement that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330 Subpart F for CTAP and 5 CFR 330 Subpart G for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. This includes a copy of the agency notice, your most recent Performance Rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Required documents may be faxed, uploaded, or hand delivered to the servicing Human Resources Office (see "Contact Information"). If you are a CTAP or ICTAP eligible, you will be considered well qualified if you: (1) meet the minimum qualification requirements listed in the vacancy announcement; and (2) possess the knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or competencies that exceed the minimum qualification requirements, as determined by a review of at least one subject matter expert, ensuring that you're likely to be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry. For more information on CTAP/ICTAP please click here .

--Required documents may be: 1)faxed to the Agency Contact (see "Contact Information") 2)uploaded directly from your desktop 3)uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments 4)hand delivered to the servicing Human Resources Office (see 'Contact Information').

-- Auto-Requested Fax : allows you to submit required documentation that will be electronically displayed along with your resume.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.