Description

Summary

You will serve as a PHYSICAL SCIENTIST/PHYSICIST/METEOROLOGIST/OCEANOGRAPHER in the N3 OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT of NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHY OPERATIONS COMMAND.

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Duties

• You will validate numerical environmental model output using knowledge of expected regional meteorological or oceanographic conditions.
• You will coordinate with Information Warfare (IW) and Undersea Warfare (USW) commands and counterparts to establish and maintain sensor databases.
• You will coordinate with a wide range of production centers, watch floors, commanders, warfighters, and the scientific community at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels to provide timely and relevant METOC analysis and recommendations.
• You will manage the daily production of environmental analysis products for Fleet assets to meet operational requirements.
• Your work will contribute to the development of modeling and simulations that include atmospheric and environmental analysis and forecasting in support of Fleet safety and tactical effectiveness.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Generally, current federal employees applying for GS jobs must serve at least one year at the next lower grade level. This requirement is called time-in-grade. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• 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.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• MSP/PPP applicants must currently hold the required security clearance.
• Successful completion of a pre-employment drug test (including marijuana) is required. A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if you fail to report to the drug test appointment or fail the test. You will be subject to random testing.
• This position is subject to an initial drug screening, and random testing thereafter. A negative drug test result must be received by HR within 30 calendar days after the EOD (i.e., start date).
• The selectee's inability to successfully pass; or refusal to conduct the test may result in:
• 1) the tentative or final job offer being withdrawn during the recruitment process; or 2) subsequently being removed from Federal service for failure to meet a condition of employment.
• You may be required to sign a "Drug Test Statement of Understanding" if you are selected for this position.
• This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain a U.S. Passport.
• The environment may require long (12-hour) shifts, including overnight and weekends.

Qualifications

FOR THE GS-12:

In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

- (MUST HAVE) Subject matter expertise in Undersea Warfare (USW) and/or Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW) operations, including the application of environmental impacts on sensor and weapon system performance.

- (MUST HAVE) Demonstrated ability to independently develop, validate, and disseminate tactical-level environmental products and recommendations to Fleet or other DoW entities.

- Extensive experience leading the testing, evaluation, and operational transition of new Tactical Decisions Aids (TDA), software, and analysis techniques.

- Proven ability to provide authoritative recommendations and briefings on complex technical matters to senior leadership (military and civilian).

- Experience in representing the Navy's Undersea Warfare (USW) and/or Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW) environmental characterization capability in broader Navy, Department of War (DoW), or Joint Force venues.

- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues under time-sensitive conditions.

- Demonstrated ability to propose and implement innovative ideas for operational process improvement or new product development.

FOR THE GS-11:

In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

- (MUST HAVE) Operational experience and/or academic background in applying oceanographic and/or meteorological theories to areas of Navy relevance.

- Experience independently validating numerical model output and producing tactical recommendations based on environmental analysis.

- Proficiency in using and troubleshooting operational Tactical Decision Aids (TDA) and other mission-critical software.

- Experience in troubleshooting technical issues and providing mitigating solutions.

- Experience in proposing and assisting in the implementation of innovative ideas for operational process improvement or new product development.

- Proficiency in communicating technical and non-technical topics verbally and in writing to a varied audiences (e.g., non-technical and senior technical personnel).

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series

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

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/physics-series-1310/

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/meteorology-series-1340/

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/oceanography-series-1360/

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess:

General Physical Science Series, 1301

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

1. 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
2. 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.

Physics Series 1310

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

1. Degree: physics; or related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in physics.
   
   or
2. Combination of education and experience courses equivalent to a major in physics totaling at least 24 semester hours, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In either A or B above, the courses must have included a fundamental course in general physics and, in addition, courses in any two of the following: electricity and magnetism, heat, light, mechanics, modern physics, and sound.

Meteorology Series 1340

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

1. Degree: meteorology, atmospheric science, or other natural science major that included:
   
   1. At least 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of credit in meteorology/atmospheric science including a minimum of:
      
      1. Six semester hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics;*
      2. Six semester hours of analysis and prediction of weather systems (synoptic/mesoscale);
      3. Three semester hours of physical meteorology; and
      4. Two semester hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere and/or instrumentation.
   2. Six semester hours of physics, with at least one course that includes laboratory sessions.*
   3. Three semester hours of ordinary differential equations.*
   4. At least nine semester hours of course work appropriate for a physical science major in any combination of three or more of the following: physical hydrology, statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, radiative transfer, aeronomy, advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science.
   
   
   * There is a prerequisite or corequisite of calculus for course work in atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, physics, and differential equations. Calculus courses must be appropriate for a physical science major.
   
   or
2. Combination of education and experience course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
   
   Oceanography Series 1360
   
   Individual Occupational Requirements
   
   Basic Requirements:
3. Degree: major study of at least 24 semester hours in oceanography or a related discipline such as physics, meteorology, geophysics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, geology, or biology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of oceanography, physics, geophysics, chemistry, mathematics, meteorology, computer science, and engineering sciences.
   
   or
4. Combination of education and experience course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
5. Applicants who qualify on the basis of major study in biology or geology must have had at least 6 semester hours in the major directly concerned with marine science or 6 semester hours in oceanography; applicants who qualify on the basis of other physical sciences or engineering must have had differential and integral calculus and at least 6 semester hours in physics.
   
   FOR GS-11:
   
   Specialized experience may substituted with the following:
   
   Successful completion3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree
   
   OR
   
   Possession of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
   
   OR
   
   A combination of experience and graduate education as described above that equates to one year of experience
   
   SUBMISSION OF TRANSCRIPT AT TIME OF APPLICATION IS REQUIRED.

Additional information

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

During the application process you will have the ability to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions in the local commuting area. Depending on the hiring organization and the position being filled, job requirements (e.g., security clearance, travel, drug testing, financial disclosure filing, bargaining unit status, etc.) may vary. Other hiring managers filling similar positions may offer relocation expense reimbursement and/or may offer recruitment incentives for new employees, depending on funding availability and in accordance with policy. If you opt-in and are referred on a certificate, your resume will be available to other hiring managers for 180-days from the date the job announcement closes. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf

PPP applicants will be placed at the FPL, if determined Well Qualified (WQ). To receive priority consideration, the FPL must be the same grade level or equivalent of the retained grade or the grade held immediately prior to separation.

ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a rating in the highly qualified category (score 85) or higher. ICTAP candidates must provide copies of all of the following documentation at the time of application: 1) agency notice; 2) most recent performance appraisal; and 3) most recent SF-50 or notification of personnel action that includes position, grade level, and duty location. Applicants who do not provide this documentation will not receive consideration as an ICTAP candidate. For more information about ICTAP eligibility please review the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/career-transition/

Military Spouse Preference applicants will be placed at the highest grade for which they have applied and are determined Best Qualified (BQ). A BQ military spouse possesses knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies comparable to others who meet the competitive referral criteria for the specific position.

Certain incentives (such as Relocation) may be authorized to eligible selectees.

A relocation incentive is generally a single payment intended to offset some of the relocation costs experienced by the selectee. A relocation incentive may be authorized.

Vacancies filled from this announcement may be filled at any grade level listed.

If selected below the full performance level, you may be noncompetitively promoted to the next higher grade level after meeting all regulatory requirements, and upon the recommenIdation of management. Promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.