This vacancy is for a Chemical Engineer (Direct Hire) in the Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, Office of Nonproliferation and Treaty Compliance, Treaty Compliance Division within the Department of Commerce.

Duties

You will participate in some or all aspects of Treaty Compliance Division (TCD) portfolio. TCD is responsible for demonstrating private sector compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Additional Protocol to the U.S. - IAEA Nuclear Safeguards Agreement (AP) which involves reporting specified activities to the relevant international organization and managing inspections by their respective inspection staff. TCD also represents BIS in the interagency process to improve international implementation of the CWC and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). TCD's responsibilities are conducted with the additional objectives of maximizing protection of Confidential Business Information, physical site security information, ITAR-controlled information, and National Security Information, minimizing the burdens on, and costs to, the private sector, and ensuring equitable international implementation. As a Chemical Engineer, you will perform the following duties: Serve as an analyst of the U.S. implementation of international treaties prohibiting weapons of mass destruction with domestic requirements on the private sector (e.g., Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and Additional Protocol (AP). Review and analyze CWC declarations and reports and AP declarations submitted by the U.S. private sector as required by the CWC Regulations and the AP regulations, respectively. Review of industrial chemistry, chemical reactions, processes, and production to determine whether chemicals are covered by the CWC regulations with the appropriate reporting requirements and declaration thresholds. Participate on Inspection Management (a.k.a. Host) Teams for inspections of U.S. chemical plant sites by international inspectors from the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and for Complementary Access of U.S. nuclear fuel cycle-related activities by international inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Participate in interagency and international meetings on national security issues related to the proliferation, or non-proliferation, of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons (a.k.a., Weapons of Mass Destruction). This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Chemical Engineer, GS-0893-11 Full Performance Level (FPL) GS-13 positions within the Department of Commerce with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

Requirements

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) 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). 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-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ 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. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: 1) Applying chemical engineering concepts and technical expertise in assisting with the operation or inspection of chemical plant-sites, or implementation of chemical-related regulations (e.g., Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations - CWCR) or chemical security operations, or nuclear-related regulations (e.g., Additional Protocol Regulations - APR), or trade related regulations (e.g., Export Administration Regulations - EAR), or other related local, state, or federal regulations; and 2) Reviewing, analyzing, auditing, or inspecting facilities, compliance documents, declarations, reports, or licenses pertaining to chemicals, or nuclear items, or other traded items, or other local, state or federal requirements. -OR- SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree -OR- COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:combination of experience and education as described above that equates to one year of experience. (YOU MUST PROVIDE TRANSCRIPTS)

Education

See Qualifications Above.

Contacts

• Address Bureau of Industry and Security 1401 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20230 US
• Name: Maria Finn
• Email: [email protected]