Duties

Summary

About the Position: The Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC) Intelligence Electronic Warfare and Sensors Directorate (IEWSD) Sensors Mission Equipment Division (SMED), headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is one of the most experienced and comprehensive support centers within the DOD.
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Responsibilities

• Initiates, plans and conducts applied research and exploratory development in the fields of computer science with emphasis on modeling and simulation, communications network design, and requirements engineering.
• Identifies research and development problems to be investigated.
• Prepares papers for publication and presentation on technical achievements for dissemination to the scientific and engineering community in Government, industry and academia and at national symposia and conferences.
• Research and development pursuits involve insight into the nature of planning, design, information interpretation and cognitive modeling as applied to software engineering for battlefield automated systems.
• Furnishes advice and explanations on the significance of scientific data, experiments and achievements resulting from technical investigations. Maintains contact with advances in the field.
• Keeps abreast of scientific developments through review of other research and development efforts and through participation and attendance at symposia in the application of artificial intelligence to software engineering and requirements engineering.
• Plans, guides and monitors research and development contracts and provides critical technical and project leader support to PM (Program Manager) programs in modeling and simulation.
• Provides advice in the evaluation of contractors proposals and capabilities.

Travel Required

25% or less - Business travel required at least 25% of the time

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
4

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Selectees must meet position requirements for certification at Level III in the Acquisition Career Field Engineering within 24 months of entrance on duty.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
• Must comply with Drug Test requirements.

Qualifications

Who May Apply:

• US Citizens
External Recruitment Military Spouse Preference

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Contracting and Acquisition
• Oral Communication
• Technical Competence

This position is subject to an internal organization control point at the NH-04 Non-Supervisory Journey Professional via CECOM control point policy and therefore pay may not be set above GS-14 step 10 $159,286.

Experience required: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job.

Specialized experience: To qualify, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade/level (NH-03). Experience developing software system techniques by using any of the following, operating system theory, architecture, and software engineering. Experience applying computer science expertise to operating and software systems using any of the following programming languages, Java, C, C++, C# and NET. Experience assessing performance of existing systems in order to determine requirements such as hardware/software upgrades, testing and new system capabilities. Experience troubleshooting and resolving system anomalies, configuration issues and software bugs.

Education cannot be substituted for experience.

Applicants must meet basic eligibility requirements such as minimum qualifications, and other regulatory requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

Basic Requirement for Computer Scientist:

Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in computer science or bachelor's degree (or higher degree) with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Position has a positive education requirement.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• This position is subject to an internal organization control point at the NH-04 Non-Supervisory Journey Professional via CECOM control point policy and therefore pay may not be set above GS-14 step 10 $159,286.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Career Program (CP) 16 - Engineers and Scientist position.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .
• Relocation/Retention Incentive will not be authorized.
• Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) will not be authorized.
• Defense National Relocation Program will not be authorized.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
• All selections under an announcement must be made within 3 months from the issuance date of the certificate referral list.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience.

If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Veterans and Military Spouses will be considered along with all other candidates.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
NCS/High Risk

Trust determination process
National security

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist (External) .

As described above, your complete application includes your 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.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

Future Military Retirees*: You are required to submit a copy of your retirement DD Form 214 (Member 4 Copy) OR certification document** OR a copy of your retirement letter AND a copy of your terminal leave request (if applicable). You will be required to provide your DD Form 214 (Member 4 Copy) upon issuance.

Future Separation from the Military*: You are required to submit a copy of your most recent DD Form 214 (Member 4 Copy) OR certification document** OR a copy of your most recent active duty orders AND a copy of your terminal leave request (if applicable). You will be required to provide your DD Form 214(Member 4 Copy) upon issuance.

*Active duty military members who are selected may not be appointed unless on terminal leave or already separated from the armed forces.

** The "certification" is any written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. The Statement of Service must be signed by, or by direction of, the adjutant, personnel officer, or commander of your unit or higher headquarters, AND the Statement of Service letter must include your rank, dates of active duty service, the Type of Discharge, Character of Service (i.e. honorable), and, if applicable, when your terminal leave will begin.

NOTE: Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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.