Physical Scientist

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management’s website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the 1301 series: EDUCATION: A.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 B.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. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. To qualify at the ZP-3 or GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-2 or GS-09 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: – Collecting, analyzing, or summarizing technical information in order to develop and maintain physical scientific products; – Generating or validating requirements for products and services derived from scientific and technical data sets; and – Participating on project teams or working groups related to physical scientific projects, products, and services. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and professional experience. Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. (Note: Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience.)
This is a Direct Hire Public Notice. Please read this Public Notice in its entirety prior to submitting your application for consideration. This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) with one vacancy in Silver Spring, MD.