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Oceanographer, ZP-1360-4 (MAP)

Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) with one vacancy in Silver Spring, MD.

This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). This system replaced the Federal GS pay plan and structure. Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band. The ZP-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NOS-NCCOS-2017-0030, which is open to all US Citizens or Nationals. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

* A one year probationary period may be required.

* Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.

* This position is not in the bargaining unit.

NOTES:

* This vacancy may be used to fill other Oceanographer, ZP-1360-4 positions throughout NOAA. The position must be alike (e.g.: within the same geographic locations, same grade/band requires the same qualifications as indicated in this vacancy announcement).

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
03/13/2017 to 03/29/2017
Salary
$94,796 to - $145,629 per year
Pay scale & grade
ZP 4
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Silver Spring, MD
1 vacancy
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Up to 10% of domestic travel may be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time / Career or Career-Conditional
Service
Promotion potential
4
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
NOS-NCCOS-2017-0029
Control number
465638100

This job is open to

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Duties

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As an Oceanographer, you will perform the following duties:

  • Design, plan, and lead activities associated with scientific data management, including data management planning, data documentation, data preservation, data delivery, and implementation of a data publication framework.
  • Implement industry system engineering and design principles to develop a technology infrastructure to support data management and the publication of thousands of data sets across a variety of ocean observation constituents; and develop new strategies for better implementing data management lifecycle steps through innovative technology choices and policy implementations.
  • Participate on national geographic information system (GIS) plans and activities that have national significance; provide expert, comprehensive oversight; make recommendations and determine approaches to coordination efforts with the NOAA Environmental Data Management Committee (EDMC) and GIS communities.
  • Provide expert analyses and recommendations for senior level managers concerning ocean observations data management tools and technologies that facilitate use of and access to data management tools; and develop relationships with academia, Federal and state agencies, and the private sector and participate in establishing common goals and resolving conflicts.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National to apply.
  • Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
  • Must be suitable for Federal employment.
  • Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov).
  • Time-in-grade/band must be met by closing date of announcement.

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.

Note: 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.

Applicants must meet ALL application requirements, to include a complete online resume, by 11:59 p.m. EASTERN TIME (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

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: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

To qualify for the 1360 series:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position requires applicants to meet a Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of specialized experience in order to be found minimally qualified. You MUST meet one of the following basic education requirements:

A. 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

B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Note: 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.

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 ZP-4 (GS-13) level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-3 (GS-12) in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

  • Participating in the development and implementation of strategic recommendations for project and program-level oceanic data stewardship;
  • Ensuring compliance with the procedural directives of a scientific organization on environmental data management, including policies and procedures for data collection, data management, data documentation, archiving, and data delivery and dissemination;
  • Tracking and inventorying scientific data products and applications as well as assessing and evaluating program-wide data stewardship for the full life-cycle of scientific applications;
  • Processing oceanographic data for analyses, modifying existing software, and developing new software to process and analyze altimeter data and ancillary data sets; and modeling simulations to understand natural ocean phenomena and improve ocean climate prediction; and
  • Providing expert, comprehensive oversight on national geographic information system (GIS) plans and activities that have national significance.

Additional information

CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a rating of 80 out of 100. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management’s Career Transition Resources website at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

CTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:

  1. A copy of your specific RIF notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; a Certificate of Expected Separation (CES); or certification that you are in a surplus organization or occupation (this could be a position abolishment letter, a notice eligibility for discontinued service retirement, or similar notice).
  2. A copy of your SF-50 “Notification of Personnel Action”, noting current position, grade level, and duty location;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.
ICTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:
  1. A copy of your RIF separation notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; notice of disability annuity termination; certification from your former agency that it cannot place you after your recovery from a compensable injury; or certification from the National Guard Bureau or Military Department that you are eligible for disability retirement;
  2. A copy of your SF-50 “Notification of Personnel Action” documenting your RIF separation, noting your positions, grade level, and duty location, and/or Agency certification of inability to place you through RPL, etc;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.
NOAA participates in e-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/No, Multiple Choice questions). However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best-qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:

  • Ability to process and send real-time data messages, analyze numerical model outputs, and diagnose the idiosyncrasies of those outputs.
  • Knowledge in designing technology infrastructures used to support data management.
  • Ability to implement policy related to data management.
  • Knowledge of GIS with the ability to provide expert, comprehensive oversight on GIS data management to technical audiences.
  • Ability to conduct complex briefings, demonstrations, and presentations of papers.
If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.

To preview questions please click here.

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