NIST works with industry and science to advance innovation and improve quality of life. We're looking for a Nuclear Engineer to join our team! This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

The candidate will work in the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), within the Reactor Operations and Engineering (ROE) group, which is responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of the NBSR, a 20 MW test reactor. The candidate will join the Licensing and Compliance Team, primarily responsible for 10 CFR 50.59 reviews, safety analysis report changes, and compliance with technical specifications. The licensing and compliance team is also responsible for establishing and ensuring the continuity of an Engineering Qualification and Training program, as well supporting NBSR activities including neutronics analyses, fuel shipment analyses, core management, and nuclear criticality safety analyses. The candidate will contribute to the team and the NCNR as-a-whole helping the engineering training program and aiding the NBSR core loading and fuel shipment analyses. The candidate is expected to perform the following: 1) Actively contribute towards a positive safety culture at NCNR. This includes the use of tools such as the Hazard Review and Approval System to document process hazards and the controls required to mitigate those hazards. 2) Use tools such as the Engineering Change Notice system, Corrective Action Program, and other programs to maintain plant configuration. 3) Once trained and qualified through the reactor engineering training program, assess and analyze proposed plant configuration changes for impacts to our license to operate the reactor (10 CFR 50.59 reviews). 4) Additional responsibilities include leading ongoing ROE projects as necessary, disseminating results in reports and presentations, and actively contributing to project and configuration management. 5) Presenting results of evaluations before the management and at national and international conferences. Duties at the ZP-III Level: 1) Providing Nuclear Engineering support for 10 CFR 50.59 facility changes, compliance with Safety Analysis Report and Technical Specifications. 2) Participate in reviewing and evaluating reactor core neutronics analysis, performing fuel shipment radio nuclear analysis and core loading management for the NBSR. 3) Work on in preparing safety evaluations for changes in facility licensing technical basis and safety analysis report. Audit facility engineering change notices, and other documentation. 4) Providing Nuclear Engineering training on NBSR reactor for other engineers within the ROE. Duties at the ZP-IV Level: 1) Providing Nuclear Engineering expert input for 10 CFR 50.59 facility changes, compliance with Safety Analysis Report and Technical Specifications. 2) Leading reviewing and evaluating reactor core neutronics analysis, performing fuel shipment and core loading management analyses for the NBSR. 3) Leading other engineers in preparing safety evaluation for changes in facility licensing technical basis and safety analysis report. Audit facility engineering change notices, and other documentation. 4) Leading "Engineering Qualification and Training" on NBSR reactor for other engineers within the ROE. For more information on NCNR, please visit the public website: https://www.nist.gov/ncnr

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
• Suitable for Federal employment
• Bargaining Unit Position: No

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; 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 B. 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 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: 1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) 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. 2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) In addition to the above requirements: To qualify at the ZP-III level, all applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-9 level (ZP-II at NIST). Specialized experience is defined as work on the evaluations of neutronics and core loading analyses. This includes the modeling of nuclear reactors, experience using MCNP, and experience using one or more programming languages. OR 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR A combination of higher-level graduate education and specialized experience In ADDITION to the basic requirements: To qualify at the ZP-IV level, applicant must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 (or ZP-III at NIST). Specialized experience is defined as experience leading neutronics and core loading analyses and managing training programs on reactor theory. This includes detailed understanding of nuclear reactor safety analyses, experience using MCNP for nuclear reactor modeling and criticality safety analyses, and experience using one or more programming languages. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done. We will credit all qualifying volunteer experience in your application. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Applicant Reconsideration

Education

This position has an education requirement. Transcripts must be submitted to validate that the education requirement has been met. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. However, an official copy will be required prior to a final offer of employment.

Education completed outside of the U.S. must be evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that it is comparable to education received in accredited institutions in the U.S. Click here to view a listing of accredited organizations from the Department of Education's website. A copy of the foreign education evaluation (containing the results with a course by course listing) is required with your application.

Contacts

• Address NIST Center for Neutron Research 100 Bureau Drive Building 235/Room K108 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 US
• Name: Evelyn Carter-Hopkins
• Phone: 000-000-0000
• Email: [email protected]