DOC ranked top 5 in 2023 Best Places to Work for large agencies for the 12th year running! This shows our continued commitment to increasing engagement & promoting diversity, equity, accessibility & inclusion. Join our team! NIST works with industry & science to advance innovation & improve quality of life. We're looking for an Electrical Engineer to join us! Notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

The mission of the Applied Physics Division is to advance measurement science and technology in areas of critical importance to national priority needs, such as advanced manufacturing, national security, quantum communications, strategic computing, and quantitative imaging. As an Electrical Engineer on our team, you will: Research and develop optoelectronic measurement techniques for characterization of defects in GaN and related semiconductors. Implement and optimize conventional deep level optical spectroscopy (DLOS) system for bulk material analyses. Characterize electrical test structures for carrier transport studies in GaN nanostructures with controlled defects. Integrate the developed optoelectronic techniques with commercial scan probe systems and related techniques, such as microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). Develop and optimize models for both bulk analyses and local scanning probe measurements in order to interpret data to extract defect modeling parameters including concentration and energy level. Communicate and collaborate with team members, other NIST teams, and external teams. Present and publish nonproprietary results as appropriate.

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: lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET;or 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: statics, dynamics strength of materials (stress-strain relationships) fluid mechanics, hydraulics thermodynamics electrical fields and circuits nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties) and 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: 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. 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. 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. 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 BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must also have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 (ZP-II at NIST) level. Specialized Experience is defined as: Experience with optical and electrical testing of compound semiconductor materials and devices with techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), or atomic force microscopy (AFM). Experience with implementation, customization, or optimization of optical testing benches for optoelectronic measurements of semiconductor materials and devices. Publication of original research in peer-reviewed journals and presentation of findings at technical meetings or workshops. OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree as defined in the basic requirements. OR A combination of graduate education and specialized experience as defined in the additional requirements. 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. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. For application tips, please refer to this site: Application Tips 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 before a final offer of employment.

Use of foreign education for qualifications. An accredited organization must evaluate education completed outside of the U.S. to ensure that it is comparable to education received in accredited institutions in the U.S. Click here to view more information about this 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 Applied Physics Division 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 US
• Name: Tailor Thompson
• Email: [email protected]