Duties

Summary

As an Electronics Engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), position specializes in Optical Engineering serves as an internationally recognized engineering expert, technical authority, and technical advisor/consultant to management, other government agencies, and the industry in optical component design, testing, and analysis for space-flight instrumentation, including instrument efficiency and radiometric performance.
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Responsibilities

• Performs design, analysis, tolerancing, testing, and evaluation work for unique and novel optical components using optical and mathematical design and analysis tools.
• Performs design of optical components, when several alternative designs are considered and a preferred design is recommended after taking into account constraints imposed by science and other engineering disciplines.
• Performs testing and other evaluation of optical components for feedback to the design and fabrication process, including the development of novel optical components that enable new scientific instruments.
• Perform optical analysis related to instrument efficiency, including component transmission, reflection, and polarization properties and radiometry that bears on system-level performance.
• Programmatic issues such as cost and schedule must also be taken into account. Responsible for identifying advanced design needs and implementing the initiation of such work in-house or through outside contractors.
• Responsible for leading a team of engineers, technicians, and contractors in the execution of these duties. As needed, functions as Task Monitor, COR, or COTR for contracts related to the task.
• Develop and evaluate research proposals from U.S. and foreign industries, governments, and academia. Initiate and monitor research contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements with external organizations.
• Integrates and coordinates the efforts of agency personnel with those of U.S. and foreign technologists, university personnel, industry contacts, or contractors in research, development, and physical science.
• Leads a team of engineers, technicians, and/or contractor personnel in performing a subset of the above optical processes.
• Duties described above are at the full-performance level. Duties assigned at a lower grade level will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity; duties will be commensurate with the grade of selected employee.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training or other work-related duties

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Occasional travel may be required.

Qualifications

In addition to the basic education requirement, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-13), which has equipped you with the particular competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of the position described above.

To qualify for the GS-14:

Specialized experience includes performing optical processes such as; optical components requirements development, optical component testing, component analysis using software and custom calculations, component degradation from environmental effects and degradation of performance, reflectivity and coatings testing and analysis, polarization testing and analysis, radiometric and efficiency analysis.

In addition to the basic education requirement, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-14), which has equipped you with the particular competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of the position described above.

To qualify for the GS-15:

Specialized experience includes performing optical processes such as; optical components requirements development, optical component testing, component analysis using software and custom calculations, component degradation from environmental effects and degradation of performance, reflectivity and coatings testing and analysis, polarization testing and analysis, radiometric and efficiency analysis. Experience leading a team of engineers, technicians, and/or contractor personnel in performing a subset of the above optical processes.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

Please spell out all acronyms.

Education

Basic Education Requirement: A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major study in engineering, physical science, mathematics, life sciences, computer science, or other field of science. Degrees in engineering technology are not considered to be qualifying for this position.

U.S. Engineering degrees must have been awarded from a college or university school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). To find out if a degree meets this requirement, go to http://www.abet.org.

Foreign Engineering degrees must be recognized by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), often known as accords. These are non-governmental agreements among organizations that accredit academic degree programs. MRAs recognize the substantial equivalence of mature accreditation systems and programs accredited by signatory organizations within their jurisdictions. For a listing of Signatories, please visit, https://www.abet.org/global-presence/mutual-recognition-agreements/is-your-program-recognized/.

Science and other related degrees must have been awarded from colleges or universities that are accredited by recognized accrediting organizations. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, go to http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be 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: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

All degrees must have been received in the year of, or any year subsequent to the original date of accreditation.

Official transcripts will be required at the time of selection to verify that you meet the educational requirement or substitution.

Additional information

As identical vacancies are identified, additional selections may be made.

You must meet time-in-grade requirements, three months after competitive appointment restrictions, and qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. See 'How You Will Be Evaluated' for definition of well qualified. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP consideration must indicate their eligibility when applying for a position. The USAJOBS resume asks you to identify your ICTAP eligibility; the NASA Supplemental Information asks you to identify your CTAP eligibility. If you are selected for the position, you must be prepared to submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

Qualified NASA term employees who have term conversion eligibility under the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 will be referred and considered equally with other NASA permanent employees under internal competitive placement procedures.

Your USAJOBS account asks you to assign a name to each of your resumes. When you apply to a NASA position, we will show you the text of the resume you have submitted, but we do not maintain the name you have assigned to that resume. If you wish to keep track of that information, we recommend you make note of it at the time you apply.

Fair Employment Opportunities for Applicants
NASA Credit for National Service

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Resumes will be rated by an automated system (Resumix) that matches the competencies extracted from the candidate's resume to the competencies identified by the selecting official for the position. Candidates will be evaluated on the competencies they possess that are directly related to the duties of the job, as described in the announcement. Candidates should refer to NASA's Applicant Guide for assistance in developing a complete resume, as NASA will not accept separate KSA statements.

Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of three quality levels based on the degree to which their competencies meet the duties required. A human resources specialist will validate the qualifications of those candidates eligible to be referred to the selecting official. For the purpose of the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), candidates rated in the top quality level are considered well-qualified.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

To receive consideration, you must submit a resume and answer NASA-specific questions. The NASA questions appear after you submit your resume and are transferred to the NASA web site. If you successfully apply, USAJOBS will show your application status as 'Received'. If your status is 'Application Status Not Available', you have not successfully applied. Do not rely on a USAJOBS email to confirm successful application. Only an email from NASA confirms a successful application.

NASA's application process has been specifically developed to ensure that we only ask you for the information we absolutely need to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility. In order to apply for this position, you only need to submit your resume and answer the screening questions and supplemental information. No additional documentation is accepted at the time of application. (For example you need not submit narrative 'KSA' statements; they are not required and will not be evaluated.) In this way we allow you to focus on preparing a resume that best describes your background and abilities. For assistance in preparing your resume, consult the Applicant Guide . Nothing further is required until requested by the Human Resources Office. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume. For example, we may ask you to provide academic transcripts or proof of Federal employment status. If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, SF-15 plus proof required by that form). If you fail to provide the required documents within the stated time period, we may withdraw a job offer and/or remove you from further consideration.

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.