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Mathematician (Program Director)

National Science Foundation
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The National Science Foundation is seeking qualified candidate for a Mathematician (Program Director) position within the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS), Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), in Alexandria, VA.

For more information on MPS please click here.

For more information on DMS please click here.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/21/2018 to 02/04/2019
Salary
$139,282 to - $178,573 per year
Pay scale & grade
AD 04
Location
Alexandria, VA
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Relocation MAY be paid contingent upon the availability of funds.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
04
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
DMS-2019-0002
Control number
519870800

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from all US citizens who meet citizenship and eligibility requirements. Please see the "Other Information" section for further information.

Duties

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NSF Program Directors bear the primary responsibility for carrying out the agency's overall mission to support innovative and merit-reviewed activities in basic research and education that contribute to the nation's technical strength, security, and welfare. To fulfill this responsibility requires not only knowledge in the appropriate disciplines, but also a commitment to high standards, a considerable breadth of interest and receptivity to new ideas, a strong sense of fairness, good judgment, a high degree of personal integrity, as well as excellent teamwork and communications skills.. In general the responsibilities of a NSF Program Director involve long-range planning and budget development, the administration of the merit review process and proposal recommendations, the preparation of press releases, feature articles and material describing advances in the research supported, and coordination and liaison with other programs in NSF, other Federal agencies and organizations.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

PROGRAM PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

  • Maintains a healthy balance of support for all the needs of the research and education enterprise through Program, Division, Directorate, Foundation, or interagency activities
  • Manages program resources to provide optimal appropriate scientific judgment to insure integrity and consistency in the grant/declination process without conflict of interests, and with balance among appropriate sub-fields and institutions, and participation of all qualified scientists
  • Incorporates cross-directorate responsibilities into program administration
  • Manages an effective, timely merit review process, with attention to increasing the size and quality of the reviewer pools and insuring broad participation
  • Advises and assists in the development of short-and-long range plans, establishing goals and objectives for support of research programs
  • Plans the budget for the program/programs considering past, present and future fiscal years, allocates resources within the budget among major competitive programs, and manages post-award evaluation

REPRESENTATION, COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP

  • Represents the Program, Division and the Foundation within the scientific community, with other NSF Divisions, with other appropriate agencies and organizations, and with the public, accurately reflecting NSF policy and positions
  • Creates and maintains collaborations with other NSF units and other Federal agencies in pursuit of the overall NSF mission
  • Participates in staff, panel, committee and other meetings, providing input relevant to program area and/or Division
  • Contributes ideas and effort to improving the quality of policies and NSF's performance of the overall mission
  • Develops policies and plans for strengthening support of research and education programs
  • Provides information to the community on how NSF is pursuing its mission and gathers input from the community on the effectiveness of NSF's performance of its mission
  • Prepares and disseminates a variety of informational documents which may include data on progress being made toward NSF goals, trends and opportunities, and budget plans

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Establishes contacts and maintains active involvement in Program and related areas through participation in professional activities
  • Maintains familiarity with salient current research developments
  • Expands administrative capabilities through training courses or assumption of new management

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Background investigation.
  • Selective Service registration required for male applicants, unless exempt.

You will need to successfully complete a background security investigation before you can be appointed into this position.

All online applicants must provide a valid email address.  If your email address is inaccurate or your mailbox is full or blocked, you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.

This position is in the bargaining unit.

Please preview "Evaluations" section and "Qualifications" for additional requirements and Quality Ranking Factors.

Qualifications

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in mathematics, statistics, or a closely related subject, plus after award of the Ph.D., six or more years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position and demonstrated expertise in a field of relevance to DMS Disciplinary Research Programs, as evidenced by research publications.

In addition candidates must demonstrate experience with workforce development programs such as the DMS Workforce Program in Mathematical Sciences.

This position is outside the competitive civil service.

You must meet eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Additional information

Relocation expenses MAY be paid contingent upon the availability of funds

This announcement is open to (All US Citizens OR current NSF employees) who meet citizenship and eligibility requirements.

Federal Appropriations Law requires that Non-Citizens meet certain eligibility criteria to be considered. Therefore, Non-Citizens must certify eligibility by signing and attaching this Citizenship Affidavit to their application. Non-citizens who do not provide the affidavit at the time of application will not be considered.

This announcement may be used to fill like positions in other organizations within the National Science Foundation.

NSF has determined that all of its positions are eligible for telework. Work suitable for telework depends on job duties; therefore, employees must receive approval from their supervisor for telework and have a telework agreement in place. Entering into a telework agreement is voluntary.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated on the extent and quality of your experience, expertise, education, and research activities relevant to the duties of the position.  In some cases, additional assessment processes may also be used.

We strongly encourage you to specifically address the Quality Ranking Factors below.  This will ensure that you receive full consideration in the evaluation process.

Quality Ranking Factors

  1. Serving as a liaison to your scientific community on behalf of NSF and as your community's representative to the federal government.
  2. Communicating with members of your scientific community about what they envision, identifying new directions and trends in your field, and writing with colleagues to help push the vision forward and shape the leading edge of science.
  3. Developing ideas for new workshops and/or solicitations which take advantage of new technologies and new interdisciplinary linkages.
  4. Selecting top researchers and experts for the peer review process and managing proposal review at all junctures, including orchestrating advisory panels, sending proposals out for external review, ensuring compliance with NSF regulations and procedures with potential principal investigators and award grantees.
  5. Making funding decisions and recommending awards to the most worthy proposals, ensuring that those funded reflect a diverse range of scientific opportunities and strong broader impacts (e.g., advancing discovery and understanding; promoting teaching, training, and learning; broadening participation of underrepresented groups; enhancing infrastructure for research and education).
  6. Participating in NSF-wide and interagency meetings, coordinating groups, conferences, special task groups, and other initiatives to collaborate with peers and experts across disciplines, Federal and state agencies, and private-sector organizations.




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