This position is with the Cotton Ginning Research Unit in Las Cruces, NM. Research scientists have open-ended promotion potential. Research accomplishments and their impact on the duties and responsibilities of positions are evaluated periodically. The grade level is limited only by the individual's demonstrated ability to perform research of recognized importance to science and technology. *Final grade level may be determined by a peer review panel.

Duties

Perform leading applied research to design and develop optimized agrivoltaic installations for simultaneous renewable power generation and agricultural production, cotton ginning, and other agricultural processing systems. Collaborate and communicate technical information pertaining to agrivoltaics and agricultural processing systems with individuals, including government officials, scientific and academic communities, national or international scientific groups. Collect, analyze, and summarize technical information pertaining to agrivoltaics and agricultural processing systems. Prepare written work products based on research to be reviewed and/or published in peer-reviewed journal articles, publications, and technical abstracts.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Successful completion of a three year probationary period.

Qualifications

The incumbent is a Research Agricultural Engineer, Research Mechanical Engineer, Research Electrical Engineer, or Research Physicist at the Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The incumbent leads and collaborates on personal research and has full responsibility for planning and conducting a research program with the broad objective to design and develop optimized agrivoltaic installations and best management practices for simultaneously optimizing renewable power generation and cropping and rangeland production and agricultural processing systems. Due to the nature of this Research Position please provide a CV or list of publications to better determine your research experience. Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Specialized Experience Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. GS-13: Applicants must demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-13 level of this position are: Producing publications as the primary author that are of interest and value to the field of research; Conceiving and formulating research ideas and plans that support or produce studies by others; Developing products in the identified field of research that solve important scientific problems; Being invited to present information to professional societies within and outside of the organization on technical matters and practices in the area of specialization. GS-14: Applicants must demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-14 level of this position are: Producing publications as the primary author for those that impact the advancement of the field or are viewed as authoritative; Conceiving and formulating research ideas and plans that advance the field of science or is used as a reference by other scientists; Experience participating in Symposia that define the state of the discipline or introduce new areas in the field; GS-15: Applicants must demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 grade level in the Federal service. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-15 level of this position are: Experience in research and reputation serve as a recruiting tool to your organization; Experience in research has led to national/international recognition as an authority and leader in the field; Experience in research has led to awards, honors, or other recognition from major national and international organizations; 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 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 further support your qualifications, it is strongly recommended that you submit a one-page abstract of your MS thesis and/or Ph.D. dissertation. Failure to do so could result in loss of your consideration/referral. Also, please submit a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons familiar with your stature, contributions, recognition; any honors or awards received; memberships in professional or honor societies; invitations to make presentations at scientific/technical meetings; scientific society office and committee assignments; presentations (other than invitation); and publications.

Education

Basic Requirement: In addition to meeting the Specialized Experience described above, applicants must also meet the basic education requirements as stated below and found in the OPM Qualification Standards Operating Manual for General Schedule Positions. To verify you meet the education requirement please provide a copy of your transcripts.

0830/0850/0890 Mechanical Engineer/Electrical Engineer/Agricultural Engineer

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), 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.)

1310 Physicist
A. Degree: physics; or related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in physics. OR

B. 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.

Contacts

• Address Agricultural Research Service 2150 Centre Avenue Building D, Suite 300 Fort Collins, CO 80526 US
• Name: Kent Amott
• Phone: 970-492-7037
• Email: [email protected]