Clarification from the agency

* All qualified U.S. citizens; * Current Federal employees serving under a career or career- conditional appointment in the competitive service; * CTAP/ICTAP eligible; * National Service (Peace Corps & VISTA); * Applicants eligible under special hiring authorities (i.e., Appointment of certain military spouses, Schedule A).

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The Director of the Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program will lead a multi-disciplinary program within NIST. DFS Director will manage field response efforts post disasters and structural failures, including collaboration within NIST and coordination outside of NIST. DFS Director will update and execute standard operating procedures and criteria for safe field data collection studies and NCST investigations. DFS Director will carry out the statutory responsibilities assigned by the National Construction Safety Team Act, including the development of field investigation expertise, team readiness, and metrology. DFS Director will ensure effective national coordination in investigations/studies by establishing strategic partnerships and standing agreements with appropriate federal agencies, state and local governments, and academic and industry organizations. DFS Director will promote the implementation of recommendations from completed investigations/studies for improvements to codes, standards, and practices. DFS Director will develop, maintain, and expand a DFS database, adhering to agency security and privacy protocols, to serve as an archival repository of hazard and failure events. DFS Director will also represent the Disaster and Failure Studies Program at professional meetings/conferences, technical committee meetings, and federal coordination meetings.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen
• You must be registered for Selective Service if applicable (www.sss.gov)
• You must be suitable for Federal Employment
• This position requires the submission of a Financial Disclosure form OGE450
• This position requires the passing of a drug test

This position is a testing designated position subject to applicant testing and random drug testing.

Applicants must meet requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

TO QUALIFY, APPLICANTS MUST MEET BOTH BASIC REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

Basic Requirements: 

Degree: professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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

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 professional 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:

• Professional registration -- Current registration as a professional engineer 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. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
• Written Test-- Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college of university that included 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-5. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements in paragraph A.

Because of the diversity in kind and quality of BET programs, graduates of other BET programs are required to complete at least 1 year of additional education or highly technical work experience of such nature as to provide reasonable assurance of the possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for professional engineering competence. The adequacy of this background must be demonstrated by passing the EIT examination.

• Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A.

• Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

NOTE: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise, or unless he/she qualifies under the provisions of B.2 related to the EIT examination or BET degree.

Specialized Experience

In addition to meeting the Basic requirements listed above, applicants must have 52 weeks of SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the federal service (ZP-IV at NIST), in leading multi-disciplinary teams investigating the failure and performance of materials, components, structures or systems associated with a structural collapse, natural disaster, or human-initiated event, including but not limited to earthquakes, hurricanes, wind and storm surge, structural fires, fires at the wildland urban interface, or the response of people and emergency responders intimate to these disaster and failure events.

Applicants must have knowledge of one or more of the following technical areas: structural engineering, wind engineering, fire protection engineering, earthquake engineering, mechanics of materials, forensic sciences, and emergency response and evacuation procedures.

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.

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcement 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 OPM website located at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Applicants may request reconsideration of their qualifications determination within three business days from the date their applicant status was changed. Applicants should email the Agency Contact listed in this vacancy announcement with their written request listing the announcement number; explaining why the original determination was improper; what factors were not considered; and, should provide any other pertinent information that would enable reevaluation. 

How you will be evaluated

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

Applications will be evaluated against the basic qualifications. Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, salary, duties performed for each position, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level/pay band. Please also include in your resume a list of all publications and patents/patent applications on which you are a named inventor and provide the title and patent/patent application number for each. Qualified candidates will be considered in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management Direct Hire Guidelines. Veterans' Preference does not apply to the direct hire recruitment procedures. Selections made under this notice will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. You may not be considered for the position if any part of the application is incomplete. Your application may not receive appropriate consideration without the required supporting documentation.