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Physical Scientist and Engagement Lead, AST - Climate and Radiation Studies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Langley Research Center
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Lidar Science Branch is seeking a skilled individual to conduct and coordinate science engagement activities designed to enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open date: 11/23/2021
Closed date: 11/30/2021
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$109,411 - $142,232 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Promotion potential
14
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
LaRC-22-IMP-11298704-RW
Control number
623471900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current NASA federal employee serving on a career, career-conditional, Schedule A for individuals with disabilities, or NASA term appointment that provides eligibility to convert to a permanent appointment.

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Duties

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  • Report and communicate with internal and external stakeholders/ partners and NASA Headquarters on NASA connection and integration with citizen science.
  • Prepare proposals to opportunities and secure funding that will infuse NASA content into the learning environment more effectively.
  • Coordinate and oversee the Science Activation curriculum development and validation , as well as train K-12 outreach advisors.
  • Work with NASA missions and scientists to infuse NASA content into the learning environment with learners of all ages and inspire participants? interest in STEM and development of their identities as science learners.
  • Work to increase the diversity of participants reached by Science Activation through intentional, inclusive programming.
  • Engage participants in learning experiences that promote development of skills for STEM career and provide opportunities for participants to engage with the disciplinary content related to NASA science and engineering.
  • Conducts studies of weather and climate and the mechanisms by which the different levels of the Earth?s atmosphere are coupled.
  • Engages in analytical and experimental work to define research studies of contemporary interest for Earth science, instrumentation required for the conduct of such programs, or databases required for the study of related problems.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement
  • Please see the "Additional Information" section for important information about COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees.

Qualifications

In addition to the basic education requirement (shown below), you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, which has equipped you with the particular competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of the position described above.

To qualify you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level working with remote sensing and citizen science data; working in an education setting to influence and contribute to STEM educational initiatives and requirements, and increasing diversity of participants; preparing and briefing high level stakeholders on activity reach and impact, and communicating NASA science with the external community.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

Education

You must have successfully completed a bachelor's or graduate degree with a major in either a) engineering from a college or university that has ABET accredited engineering programs or b) Physical Science, Mathematics, Life Science, Computer Science*, or other field of physical science.
*Note: Curriculum must include 30 semester hours of course work in a combination of mathematics, statistics and computer science. Of the 30 semester hours, 15 must be in any combination of statistics and mathematics which includes differential and integral calculus.

Degrees in engineering technology are not considered to be qualifying for this position.

To find out if a school has an ABET accreditation, go to http://www.abet.org.

Degrees must have been received in the year of, or any year subsequent to the original date of accreditation.

Engineering degrees earned outside the United States: Engineering degrees earned outside the Unites States must be recognized by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), often known as accords. These are non-governmental agreements among organizations that accredit academic degree programs. MRAs recognize the substantial equivalence of mature accreditation systems and programs accredited by signatory organizations within their jurisdictions. For a listing of Signatories, please visit, https://www.abet.org/global-presence/mutual-recognition-agreements/is-your-program-recognized/.

Science and other related degrees earned within the United States: Science and other related degrees must have been awarded from colleges or universities that are accredited by recognized accrediting organizations. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, go to http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

Science and other related degrees earned outside the United States: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021 or before appointment or onboarding with the agency, if after November 22. We will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exception from this requirement.
Due to COVID-19, NASA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement within 30 days. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework one or more days a pay period depending upon the terms of the agency's telework policy.

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across NASA within the local commuting area(s) of the location(s) identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) within NASA. CTAP/ICTAP will be cleared for any additional selection from this announcement.

If you are applying for a GS-12 or higher level and are a current federal employee, you must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible for this position. To be eligible, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks in a position no more than 1 grade lower than the advertised position. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. If your eligibility for both merit promotion and/or time-in-grade cannot be determined, your application will be rated ineligible. Please see Required Documents for additional information).
Note: Time-in-grade requirements also apply to applicants who have held a non-temporary, competitive service GS position in the past year.

If you have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must:
- Indicate your eligibility when applying for a position. The questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility.
- Be well qualified for this position to receive consideration. Candidates rated in the 'Best Qualified' category are considered well-qualified. Please see 'How You Will Be Evaluated' for more information.
- Submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP as indicated in 'Required Documents'

For additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, click here - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/#ictap.

Qualified NASA term employees who have term conversion eligibility (http://nasapeople.nasa.gov/hclwp/term-appointments.htm) under the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 will be referred and considered equally with other NASA permanent employees under internal competitive placement procedures.

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 for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements listed in this vacancy announcement. To determine your qualifications and referral status, we may review your resume and supporting documentation and compare it against your responses to the vacancy questionnaire. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

You will be assessed on the following competencies:
Climate Change and Variability
Earth Atmosphere
Education Programs and Technologies
Oral Communication
Planning and Evaluating
Technical Competence
Written Communication

NASA considers 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.

Under NASA's quality grouping process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three groups identified and defined below:

  • Best Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
  • Highly Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
  • Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Candidates eligible for ICTAP/CTAP, reemployment priority or priority consideration will be referred before other candidates, as necessary. If no such candidates apply or are eligible to be referred, the following candidates will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration:
  • Best Qualified merit promotion candidates. Highly Qualified merit promotion candidates may also be referred, if additional candidates are needed.
  • Qualified candidates eligible for consideration under Schedule A or VRA in accordance with veterans' preference rules, as applicable.
  • Qualified candidates that are eligible for special hiring authorities or non-competitive hiring authorities.

Langley Research Center

Explore the Extraordinary
Calling all the innovators, pioneers, visionaries, and adventurers! We are a diverse group of professionals united by a common purpose: to discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity. We're building on our rich legacy by embarking on new and exciting missions, both on Earth and beyond and we're looking for fresh ideas to help us get there. Do you have a passion for exploration? Do you want your work to leave an enduring impact? Join us in a career that can take you farther than you can imagine. At NASA, our work is more than just a profession-it's a lifelong pursuit, a passion, and a chance to change the world. NASA is more than astronauts. We are scientists, engineers, IT specialists, human resources specialists, accountants, writers, technicians and many other kinds of people working together to break barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible.

Explore the extraordinary, every day; explore a career at NASA!

Agency contact information

NASA Shared Services Contact Center
Phone
1-877-677-2123
Fax
1-866-779-6772
Email
nssc-contactcenter@nasa.gov
Address
Langley Research Center
1 NASA Dr
Hampton, VA 23666
US

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Learn more about what it's like to work at Langley Research Center, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

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