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Interdisciplinary ((General Engineer/Physicist) Recent Graduate)

Department of the Army
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Quality Engineering and System Assurance
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Civilian employees serve a vital role in supporting the Army mission. They provide the skills that are not readily available in the military, but crucial to support military operations. The Army integrates the talents and skills of its military and civilian members to form a Total Army.

About the Position:
Position(s) will be filled under the Department of the Army Pathways Recent Graduates Program. Click here for more information on Pathways program participation. After Program completion, Department of the Army Recent Graduates MAY be converted to a permanent position or to a term position (a project-based term of employment lasting between one and four years).

Applicants can be selected at either the GS-07 or GS-09. The target grade of this position is GS-12

To be eligible for conversion to a permanent or term position, Recent Graduates must:

  • Be a U.S. Citizen
  • Successfully complete all the requirements of the Recent Graduate Program as defined in the Agency Participant Agreement.
  • Demonstrate successful job performance.
  • Meet the Office of Personnel Management qualification standard including any applicable positive education requirements and/or selection placement factors and any other designated special qualifications requirements and conditions of employment (e.g. medical standards) appropriate for the position to which being converted.
To learn more, please visit the Office of Personnel Management webpage, Hiring Authorities: Students & Recent Graduates.

Who May Apply:
Positions are open to:
  • Recent graduates who have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. Short-term training programs (e.g. several two-week programs completed) are not considered an academic course of study.
  • Current students who will graduate no later than 18-SEPTEMBER-2018
  • Preference eligible veterans who were precluded from applying due to their military service obligation begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/04/2017 to 12/18/2017
Salary
$46,398 to - $73,784 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
1 vacancy
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Recent Graduates
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Announcement number
NEBA174519782884PR
Control number
485556400

This job is open to

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Duties

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As a developmental Interdisciplinary (General Engineer/Physicist), you will assist in performing duties such as:

  • Apply engineering fundamentals to learn how to properly utilize testing methods for internal and external system or software flaws and defects.
  • Actively participate as a team member on assigned projects.
  • Work under closer supervision and work in a developmental capacity performing assignments and completing training, both of which are aimed in preparing the incumbent to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties at the full performance level. The incumbent receives progressively more responsible assignments as experience and training are received to the next higher position.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Other Requirements:

  • Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
  • You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
  • Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
  • Appointment is subject to the completion of a favorable suitability or fitness determination.
  • Direct Deposit of Pay is Required.
  • This is a Career Program (CP) 16 position.
  • Recent Graduates must sign a Participant Agreement with the Agency.
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
  • Business travel is required up to 24% of the time.
  • Moving expenses are not authorized for this position.
  • This is an Army Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology workforce position.
  • All candidates must meet position requirements for certification at Level I in acquisition Career Field Production, Quality and Manufacturing OR Engineering within 24 months of occupying the position.
  • Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Career Field Position.
  • Army Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Workforce (ALT) workforce applicants must have an Acquisition Career Record Brief (ACRB) on file in the Career Acquisition Personnel and Position Management Information System (CAPPMIS).
  • A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required for undergraduate level course work OR a minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for graduate level course work.
  • If selected, official college or university transcripts must be submitted. However, unofficial transcripts must be submitted at the time of application.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement for General Engineer:

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. 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.

2. 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, or Puerto Rico.

3. 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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.

4. 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 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.
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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Basic Requirement for Physicist:

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in physics, or related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in physics. The courses must have included a fundamental course in general physics and, in addition, courses in any two of the following: electricity and magnetism, heat, light, mechanics, modern physics, and sound.
OR
B. Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major in physics totaling at least 24 semester hours, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The courses must have included a fundamental course in general physics and, in addition, courses in any two of the following: electricity and magnetism, heat, light, mechanics, modern physics, and sound.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Minimum Qualifications GS-07:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting in performing technical projects and conducting data analysis. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).
OR
Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.
OR
Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:
(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR
(2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR
(3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Minimum Qualifications GS-09:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes performing technical projects such as conducting data analyses and testing materials/products for compliance. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).
OR
Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency (knowledge, skills, abilities) in the following areas:

  • Conscientiousness
  • Flexibility
  • Learning
  • Oral Communication
  • Teamwork

Education

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you may qualify if your education meets the definitions above in the Qualifications section.

Only degrees from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education are acceptable to meet positive education requirements or to substitute education for experience. For additional information, please go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education websites at - http://www.opm.gov/qualifications and http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html

Foreign education must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency in order to be considered for this position. Please submit your foreign education evaluation with your application.

Additional information

  • If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
  • Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
  • If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
  • You may claim military spouse preference.
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Basis for Rating: Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of three quality categories: Ideal Candidate, Strong Candidate, and Eligible Candidate. Veteran preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category.

  • Ideal: This category will be used for those candidates who meet GPA, related coursework, experience gained at an Internship, or Cooperative (co-op) learning program and organization participation criteria.
  • Eligible: This category will be used for those candidates who meet the minimum qualifications of the position.

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