You will serve as an Oceanographer in the Ocean Sensing and Processes Branch, Code 733200, of NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY CONUS.

Duties

You will work with senior scientists to develop, design, and implement experimental measurements systems relating to the areas of physical oceanography and ocean engineering. You will plan, prepare, and deploy advanced oceanographic instrumentation for at-sea operations and be familiar with the limitations of instrumentation in harsh ocean environments. You will maintain and organize the ocean instrumentation, and maintain the ocean instrumentation laboratory. You will provide technical expertise in calibration procedures and will ensure proper instrument maintenance. You will analyze tests and achievements of other project milestones to determine consistence of project technical progress against planned progress. You will document all technical efforts by preparation of memos, technical reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles.

Requirements

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.
• This position is considered Key/Non-Combat Essential. You will be required to provide immediate and continuing support of the expeditionary requirements in other than combat or combat support situations.
• This position requires heavy lifting (45 pounds or over).
• You will be required to obtain and maintain a current valid United States driver’s license.
• The position requires irregular shift work.
• You will be required to perform occasional sea duty.
• Generally, current federal employees applying for pay banded jobs must serve at least one year at the next lower pay band. This requirement is called time-in-band. Time-in-band requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower pay band (NP-02) or grade level (GS-5/10) in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector performing most or all of the following: 1) Preparing, deploying, and recovering complex oceanographic instruments (e.g., gliders, CTDs, current meters) at sea; 2) Creating and documenting engineer ideas in engineering design software such as Solidworks; 3) Maintaining and organizing oceanographic instrumentation utilizing demonstrated knowledge of theory of operation and oceanographic data processing techniques; 4) Collecting scientific and operational data utilizing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and autonomous platforms; 5) Managing purchasing and acquisition of oceanographic instrument systems; and 6) Communicating orally and in writing in documentation of scientific activities. This position has a selective placement factor that will be used to screen out ineligible candidates. The selective placement factor is: You must have demonstrated knowledge of oceanographic instrumentation, theory of operation, and oceanographic data processing techniques, and skill in deploying and recovering complex electronic systems at sea. Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/oceanography-series-1360/ Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if qualifying using education. See Required Documents for additional information.

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess:

• Degree: major study of at least 24 semester hours in oceanography or a related discipline such as physics, meteorology, geophysics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, geology, or biology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of oceanography, physics, geophysics, chemistry, mathematics, meteorology, computer science, and engineering sciences; OR
• Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Applicants who qualify on the basis of major study in biology or geology must have had at least 6 semester hours in the major directly concerned with marine science or 6 semester hours in oceanography; applicants who qualify on the basis of other physical sciences or engineering must have had differential and integral calculus and at least 6 semester hours in physics.

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In lieu of specialized experience, you may qualify with the following education or combination of both education and experience:

• Successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree. https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/students/federal-occupations-by-college-major/; OR
• a combination of experience and education as described above that equates to one year of experience.

Contacts

• Address NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY CONUS Stennis Space Center Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 US
• Name: Department of Navy EIC
• Email: [email protected]