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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 registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov).
- Qualifications requirements must be met by closing date of announcement.
- Must be suitable for Federal employment.
This position requires a Public Trust Security Clearance.
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-3 is equivalent to the GS-11/12.
* A one year probationary period may be required.
* Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.
* This position is not in the bargaining unit
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: 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:
To qualify for the 1301 series:
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: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
To qualify at the ZP-3 or GS-11 level:
One full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-2 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized Experience MUST include all of the following:
- Implementing operational capabilities for the archive and electronic distribution of satellite data and science-quality data sets derived from satellite instrumentation in near-real-time.
- Performing observations, analysis and predictions of space environment phenomena including solar disturbances and their effects on the earth.
OR
3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related OR a combination of education and experience.
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) and place you in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are “gold”, “silver” and “bronze”. However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the “gold” category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.
How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans’ preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating.
The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:
- Data Management: Knowledge of the principles, procedures, and tools of data management, such as modeling techniques, data backup, data recovery, data dictionaries, data warehousing, data mining, data archiving, data disposal, and data standardization processes.
- Remote Sensing: Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods necessary to obtain, use, and interpret data from remote sensing sources, including aircraft and satellites.
- Geophysics: Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories related to solid earth structure, global seismic patterns, lithosphere, atmosphere, and the behavior of the earth's gravitational, magnetic, and electrical fields, and other forces affecting the earth and its environment.
- Physical Sciences: Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods to investigate and apply the relations between space, time , matter, and energy in the areas of gravity, atomic principles, mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism, and related natural phenomena.
- Research: Knowledge of the scientific principles, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry; including study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and the reporting of results.
- Space Science: Knowledge of physical science and engineering necessary to conduct research or study the solar system and beyond.
To preview questions please click here.
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Background checks and security clearance