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Manager of the White Sands Test Facility

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Johnson Space Center's (JSC) White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is a rocket engine test facility and a resource for testing and evaluating potentially hazardous materials, space flight components, and rocket propulsion systems for NASA, the Department of Defense, other government agencies, and private industry. The WSTF Director is responsible for all aspects of the facility and 36 square miles of NASA-controlled property.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open date: 09/27/2021
Closed date: 10/12/2021
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$189,948 - $195,231 per year
Pay scale & grade
ES 00
Promotion potential
None
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
Yes
Federal service type
This job is in the Senior Executive Service
Drug test
Yes
Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
JSC-21-ES11239335
Control number
615173300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

The area of consideration for this position is all groups of qualified individuals within the civil service, Senior Executive Service (SES) reinstatement eligible, and SES Candidate Development Program certified graduates with noncompetitive eligibility. A person is considered to be in the civil service only if occupying a civil service position at the time of application.

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Duties

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This position reports to the JSC Center Director. The Manager of the White Sands Test Facility:

- Provides management and technical oversight in planning and directing a broad program encompassing developmental and operational tests of spacecraft propulsion systems and related subsystems

- Provides direct technical and engineering laboratory support capability involving sophisticated equipment and facilities in the fields of electronic systems, standards, calibration, radiation, and chemistry.

- Promotes engineering, development, and operations efforts to advance the technology and state-of-the-art in instrumentation, chemistry, contamination control, metallurgy, radiography, environmental testing, nondestructive evaluation testing, and calibration associated with developmental and operational
tests.

- Manages all facility operation requirements including utilities, road repair, building and grounds maintenance, environmental compliance and remediation, occupational health and safety, emergency services, and security of 36 square miles of NASA-controlled properties.

- Evaluates proposed projects to ensure that they fall within one of WSTF's core capabilities of Rocket Propulsion Testing, Oxygen Materials and Components Testing and Analysis, Composite Pressure Systems, Aerospace Fluids, Hypervelocity Impact Testing, Standard Materials Testing, and Critical Flight Hardware Processing.

- Provides management and technical oversight for all test programs conducted at WSTF and for select NASA-sponsored programs at the Department of the Army's White Sands Missile Range.

- Serves as the NASA interface with other Government agencies and local city and state officials.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-278) in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
  • Initial Senior Executive Service (SES) Career appointee is subject to a one-year probationary period.
  • Successful completion of a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
  • Successful completion of pre-employment and random drug testing may be required.
  • Must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

You must have the skill and ability to perform the duties described above as demonstrated by progressively responsible supervisory/leadership experience, normally obtained over several years by serving in positions at the GS-15 level or equivalent.

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, you MUST address each Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) and Mandatory Technical Qualification (MTQ) separately. If you fail to do so, your application will be rated ineligible. We recommend you provide two (2) examples of relevant experience for each ECQ. Responses to ALL ECQs must not exceed ten (10) pages; MTQ responses must not exceed one (1) page per MTQ. Please include your full name on all documents submitted.

If you are currently serving under a career SES appointment, are eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or have successfully completed a SES Candidate Development Program and been certified by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) you MUST address the MTQs, but do not need to address the ECQs.

When preparing your responses to the ECQs and MTQs, you are encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action, and Result model outlined in the OPM's Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualification and NASA's Guide to Effectively Preparing Executive Core Qualifications. For a sample template on how to format your ECQ narrative visit NASA's Executive Leadership Opportunities.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS:

ECQ 1 - Leading Change: The ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

ECQ 2 - Leading People: The ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3 - Results Driven: The ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

ECQ 4 - Business Acumen: The ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5 - Building Coalitions: The ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.


MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS:

MTQ 1 -
Demonstrated experience in leading and providing technical oversight of engineering test evaluation methodologies for spacecraft propulsion systems, spaceflight hardware and components, and related aerospace fluids and fluid systems, including safety requirements, quality engineering requirements, and hardware and test system design and fabrication techniques related to the systems, components, and materials undergoing such tests.

MTQ 2 - Demonstrated experience in managing large scale facilities design, construction, operation and maintenance necessary for providing the infrastructure and test capabilities to support hazardous testing of spacecraft systems, components, and materials.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement. A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major study in engineering, physical science, mathematics, life sciences, computer science, or other field of science.

To be eligible, you must clearly state in your resume the following: degree, major and/or minor, and college/university.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION: 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, click here.

How you will be evaluated

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

All qualifications requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume and required documents to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the basic qualification requirements, your application will be evaluated based on your narrative statements addressing the ECQs and MTQs. Your application will then be referred to and evaluated by an Executive Resources Panel (ERP) and will be placed in one of the following categories: Not Qualified, Qualified, or Highly-qualified. Candidates may receive an interview and/or be asked to provide a list of references. The ERP will make a recommendation to the appropriate approving authority.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

At NASA, we are united by a common purpose: to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind. Our diverse set of engineering, scientific, aeronautics and space exploration missions are leaving an enduring impact on humanity. As our missions grow more complex, we will rely on leaders with vision, creativity, and programmatic and technical expertise to lead us into the new era of exploration. In addition to programmatic knowledge, NASA's strong leadership cadre also plays a vital role in empowering our diverse workforce to achieve our shared goals. At NASA, the key to our success is our people. Join us and contribute to work that matters, while helping us create and sustain an environment that fosters excellence, teamwork, inclusiveness, safety and integrity. Align your talents with your passion, and find out why NASA is consistently named a best place to work in the federal government. Join us as we explore the extraordinary, every day.

Agency contact information

NASA Executive Staffing
Email
Agency-Executive-Staffing@mail.nasa.gov
Address
Johnson Space Center
2101 NASA Parkway
Houston, TX 77058
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

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