Duties

Summary

This position is part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

This position is being filled under DoD Modified Direct Hire Authority, Section 1109; PL, 116-92, dated 12/20/2019 .

As a Interdisciplinary Physical Scientist/General Engineer at the GS-0801/1301-13 some of your typical work assignments may include:

• Plans, organizes, directs, and evaluates materials science and other technology R&D projects/programs.
• Orchestrates fundamental research, testing, applied research and technical demonstrations to advance the state of the art in phenomenology, mechanistic modeling, and first principal's high fidelity computational methods for weapons effects modeling and simulation (M&S).
• Manages programs to advance M&S technology to predict weapons effects on WMD containers, equipment, buildings and other structures and the associated degradation of the contents or inhabitants of each.
• Leads research and development efforts to initiate field and laboratory experiments, high fidelity and engineering-level numerical models and methods, theoretical investigations, application development/testing, and direct application to military missions via training, exercises or combat support
• Serves as a subject matter expert in weapons effects phenomenology providing expert scientific oversight to the implementation of advanced codes and bomb damage assessment (BDA) for target damage and collateral effects into the Integrated Munitions Effects Assessment (IMEA) software.
• Serves as a technical authority on structural, civil, and mechanical engineering and computational mechanics research activities.
• Performs as a subject matter expert on weapons effects, uses judgment and ingenuity to interpret new standards and codes like the Unified Facilities Criterion (UFC) on progressive collapse of buildings.
• Forms program/project review teams and leads technical evaluation of research proposals, consolidates input of supporting reviewers, and makes recommendations to the Source Selection Authority.
• Assesses deliverable items for compliance with contract or work order specifications.
• Maintains regular contact with Directorate managers, performers, and staff within the Agency, OSD, other DoD agencies, and external organizations to include contractors, laboratories, industry, academia, and the international defense community, DARPA, NSF, DHS, and DOE.
  

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel in the performance of temporary assignments may be required up to 25% of duty time.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Occasional Travel
• Work Schedule: Full-time
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
• Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
• Overtime: Occasionally
• Tour of Duty: Flexible
• Recruitment Incentives: Authorized
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Exempt
• Financial Disclosure: Not Required
• Telework Eligibility: This position is telework eligible
• PCS: Not Authorized
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid passport.
• Must consent to and pass pre-employment drug testing and be subject to periodic random drug testing thereafter.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a TOP SECRET/SCI security clearance

Qualifications

You may qualify at the GS-13, if you fulfill the following qualifications:

A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service:

• Overseeing fundamental research, testing, applied research and technical demonstrations to advance the state of the art in phenomenology, mechanistic modeling, and first principal's high fidelity computational methods to advance modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities.
• Applying advanced engineering, chemistry, and physics theories, standards, and methods to predict damage and other effects resulting from kinetic insult to containers, equipment, buildings and other structures and the associated degradation of their contents.
• Managing / overseeing field and laboratory experiments, developing advanced models and methods, and overseeing theoretical investigations to address long-standing and difficult problems.
• Applying the principles of the Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) processes for Research Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) capability development; including capability gap identification, analysis and prioritization, capability requirement document development and validation, alignment of resources to execution and defense acquisition practices and procedures.

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.
These occupational series both have a minimum education requirement.

0801: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/1301: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/general-physical-science-series-

1301 Series: 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.
For 0801 Series: Degree: professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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 professional 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 -- Current registration as a professional engineer 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 Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college of university that included 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-5. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements in paragraph A. Because of the diversity in kind and quality of BET programs, graduates of other BET programs are required to complete at least 1 year of additional education or highly technical work experience of such nature as to provide reasonable assurance of the possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for professional engineering competence. The adequacy of this background must be demonstrated by passing the EIT examination. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a 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.

Education

Substitution of education may not be used in lieu of specialized experience for this grade level.
You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) unofficial transcripts are acceptable at time of application, or (2) If you are serviced by the office filling this position and your transcripts are on file in your official personnel folder, you are not required to submit. However, it is your responsibility to ensure transcripts are on file.

All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: 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 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: Foreign Education

Additional information

Other Notes:

This is an Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Workforce position in the Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering - Science and Technology Manager career field. The incumbent will be required to become certified, Level II in the applicable career field within 24 months, unless a Position Requirements Waiver is approved to extend the 24 months.

This position DOES NOT meet criteria for re-employed annuitant. The DoD criteria for hiring Re-employed Annuitants can be found at:
http://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/140025/1400.25-V300.pdf

All applicants must meet qualifications and eligibility criteria by the closing date of the announcement.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Programs: This program applies to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; Well qualified is defined as possessing the type and quality of experience that exceeds the positions minimum qualifications. and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. For more information:
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/

Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documents, to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and evaluate your relevant work experiences.

Traditional rating and ranking of applications does not apply to this vacancy. Your application (resume and supporting documentation) will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required as listed on the announcement under qualification requirements.

Veterans Preference: If you are entitled to veterans preference, you should indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming on your resume. Your veterans' preference entitlement will be verified by the employing agency.

For information on entitlement see http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc).

Your complete application includes your COMPLETE resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

The following documents are REQUIRED
1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format. It must include your name and contact information and support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain the number of hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e.," HRS per week and month/year" or "HRS per week and month/year to present").
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume.

2. Transcripts

• This position has a degree or education requirement so you are required to submit a copy of your transcript
• College transcript(s), required if qualifying based on education. We accept unofficial transcripts, as long as they contain your name, the name of the school, the date and degree that was awarded, and the lists of classes and credits earned.

3. Veteran's Documents

• If applying using veteran's preference or under a Veteran's hiring authority you must submit the following documents:
• DD214 showing character of service, SF-15 Form and VA letter showing final percentage, or certification of expected discharge or release from active duty.

PLEASE REVIEW THE BELOW LINK FOR OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS needed for proof of eligibility:
https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/Careers/downloads/FourthEstateRequiredSupportingDocumentation%2011-16-2020.pdf?ver=Lgkkn1HW9a8is7V2lyCS2Q%3d%3d

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.