This vacancy is for an Electronics Engineer in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration within the Department of Commerce.

Duties

As an Electronics Engineer, you will perform the following duties: Evaluate and analyze current spectrum management programs and policies; lab and field measurements of Radio Frequency (RF) system characteristics and usage; develop and recommend mitigation methods, technical approaches, or procedures to resolve issues or facilitate more efficient spectrum use. Measure and evaluate the current use and allocation of the radio spectrum to inform the development of new band plans Analyze and track the progress of research and effectively report to managers, external stakeholders, and senior-level policymakers; report findings and recommendations tactfully and persuasively. Develop written engineering reports documenting research methods, data analyses, findings, and recommendations which inform RF system owners and policymakers; develop project status and budget tracking reports. Formulate research and engineering approaches, practices, and measurement system applications that address spectrum engineering problems. This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Electronics Engineer ZP-0855-3/4 FPL 4 positions within the Department of Commerce in the same geographical location with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

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-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. This position is being filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). The system replaced the Federal GS pay plan structure. Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band. Non supervisory positions cap out at interval 3 of the band. The ZP-3 is equivalent to the GS-11/12 grade levels. The ZP-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14 grade levels. BASIC REQUIREMENTS - All applicants must meet the basic requirements listed below: A. Degree in 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. 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.) -AND- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: All applicants must possess specialized experience for each level they apply to. To qualify at the ZP-3 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 (or equivalent pay band) level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Assisting in interpreting radio frequency (RF) spectrum policies and guidelines to address problems; Participating in writing and developing engineering reports; Reporting project status and research findings to relevant stakeholders; and Researching wireless communications or RF systems using standard engineering approaches and measurement system applications. -OR- SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. -OR- COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Equivalent combinations of creditable specialized experience and graduate education (beyond the second year) as described above to meet the total requirements for the position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with the application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. To qualify at the ZP-4 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 (or equivalent pay band) level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Applying and interpreting policies and guidelines regarding the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum; Writing and developing engineering reports; Presenting and briefing report findings; and Researching wireless communications systems using electrical engineering principles, radio spectrum policies, and technical guidelines.

Education

See Qualifications Above.

Contacts

• Address National Telecommunications and Information Administration 1401 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20230 US
• Name: Shawn Blain
• Email: [email protected]