This position is located within the Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service (NWS), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) with one vacancy located in Boise, ID or Norman, OK. This position is also announced under vacancy number NWS NCEP SPC-25-12631659-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

As a Meteorologist, you will perform the following duties: Promotes awareness of fire weather risks and preparedness efforts, identifying priority preparedness objectives and develops national projects to meet those objectives. Provides authoritative guidance regarding the fire weather program and related warning missions and works closely with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) leadership team to ensure the external communication of SPC fire weather forecasts achieves the highest level of effectiveness. The incumbent serves as a Lead Fire Weather Forecaster when working operational shifts, utilizing an expert-level mastery of fire weather meteorology in the preparation of both routine and unscheduled multi-day SPC fire weather forecasts involving highly complex and variable atmospheric processes affecting the United States. The incumbent may serve as an Incident Meteorologist (IMET), providing on-site or remote Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) to emergency managers, emergency response officials, and federal, state and regional decision makers.

Requirements

Qualifications

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. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: A. Degree: meteorology, atmospheric science, or other natural science major that included: 1. At least 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of credit in meteorology/atmospheric science including a minimum of: a. Six semester hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics; b. Six semester hours of analysis and prediction of weather systems (synoptic/mesoscale); c. Three semester hours of physical meteorology; and d. Two semester hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere and/or instrumentation. 2. Six semester hours of physics, with at least one course that includes laboratory sessions. 3. Three semester hours of ordinary differential equations. 4. At least nine semester hours of course work appropriate for a physical science major in any combination of three or more of the following: physical hydrology, statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, radiative transfer, aeronomy, advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science. OR B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: 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. To qualify at the GS-14 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Performing fire weather forecasting and presents forecasts to the leadership of an organization; Assisting in developing policies and plans for fire safety; and Ensuring functioning of staff, dissemination of products, and fulfillment of required activities related to fire weather forecasting. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: Occasional travel may be required, up to 10%. The position requires working rotating shifts in a 24 x 7 environment, including holidays and weekends. During periods of threatening weather or rapidly changing weather conditions, the increase in workload requires periods of acute mental alertness and produces considerable mental stress. Adverse weather conditions may require the incumbent to work hours longer than the usual shift. As an Incident Meteorologist (IMET), the incumbent may travel to a remote site that serves as the "Incident Command" for first responders fighting a fire. This can require travel on short (less than 24 hours) notice to occasionally very remote locations, sometimes even sleeping in a rental car if hotels are not readily available. *There is a pool of available IMETs from which to draw, if an employee person is unable to travel to a particular fire.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation

Contacts

• Address NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS) 1315 East West Hwy SSMC4 Silver Spring, MD 20910 US
• Name: Applicant Inquiries
• Email: [email protected]