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Physical Scientist, AST Science Missions (Direct Hire)

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

Summary

As a Physical Scientist on the NASA Earth eXchange (NEX) project, located within the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. You will be responsible for designing, implementing and reporting on Earth science research projects aligned with NASA's climate research and applications objectives and participating in the succesful execution of the NEX Five Year Plan.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/02/2022 to 12/27/2022
Salary
$115,928 to - $176,300 per year

The salary shown reflects the 2022 rates of pay for GS employees.

Pay scale & grade
GS 13 - 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Moffett Field, CA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - Not to exceed 3 years with the option to extend to a maximum of 6 years
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
ARC-23-DE-11742895-LC
Control number
691961200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

** This vacancy has been amended to extend the closing date from 12/20/22 to 12/27/22.**

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Duties

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  • Duties described below are at the full-performance level. Duties assigned at a lower grade level will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity; duties will be commensurate with the grade of selected employee.
  • Conducts climate, climate downscaling, and resilience research as a member of the NASA Earth eXchange (NEX). Disseminates research results in presentations at national and/or international technical meetings and publications in scientific journals.
  • Secures funding for NEX climate, climate downscaling, and resilience research and technology development through the conception, construction, and execution of proposals and work plans to NASA and/or other funding opportunities.
  • Serves as an Agency expert in climate, climate downscaling, and resilience research and represents the Agency and NEX as a member of the Downscaling Workstream and USGCRP Federal Adaptation and Resilience Group (FARG).
  • Serves as an Agency expert providing advice and guidance regarding the direction, content, and technical approach of NASA's climate downscaling and/or climate resilience activities.
  • Develops collaboration with other NASA Centers and/or research institutes to support the applications of NEX climate downscaling datasets in scientific research and decision-making processes.
  • Guides work by junior team members, acts as the scientific adviser to postdoctoral fellows, delivers presentations to project officials, managers, scientists, and official visitors.
  • Participates as a member of the NEX team to achieve objectives and milestones laid out in the NEX Five-Year Plan, including sustaining, advancing, and conducting research using the NEX Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP).

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S
  • Position subject to pre-employment background security investigation
  • You must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement
  • If selected, you will be required to complete a financial disclosure statement
  • This position may require a one year trial period

Qualifications

In addition to the Basic Education Requirement (in the Education section below), to qualify for this position you must meet the requirements below. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

To qualify for GS-13, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the federal sector:

  • Responding to Research Opportunity Announcements or research requests for proposals;
  • Performing research focused on one or more of the following: climate, climate downscaling, climate resilience, and intercomparison/statistical uncertainty of downscaled climate projections, and presenting results at technical meetings and in peer-reviewed journals; and
  • Leveraging large datasets or models in computationally intensive computing environments, including on-premise high performance computing and/or cloud computing.
To qualify for GS-14, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the federal sector:
  • Evaluating and responding to Research Opportunity Announcements or research requests for proposals;
  • Providing oversight and evaluating research focused on one or more of the following: climate, climate downscaling, climate resilience, and intercomparison/statistical uncertainty of downscaled climate projections, and describing results in technical and programmatic settings; and
  • Providing oversight on large datasets or models in computationally intensive computing environments, including on-premise high performance computing and/or cloud computing and provide data to the scientific 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

Basic Education Requirement: You must have successfully completed a bachelor's degree with a major in one of the following:
a) Engineering from a college or university that has ABET accredited engineering programs
b) Physical Science, Mathematics, Life Science or other field of Science
c) Computer Science that included 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours of course work in any combination of mathematics, statistics and computer science with at least half of those hours in mathematics and statistics courses that included differential and integral calculus.

If you did not complete a qualifying bachelor's degree, you may be eligible if you have obtained a graduate degree in an AST qualifying field, as listed above.

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

Engineering degrees earned within the United States: Engineering degrees earned within the United States must be from a college or university that has at least one ABET accredited engineering program. To find out if a school has at least one ABET accredited program, please visit http://www.abet.org.

Engineering degrees earned outside the United States: Engineering degrees earned outside the United 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.

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

Additional information

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.

This appointment may be extended beyond the initial appointment date, for a period not to exceed a total of six years.

Current Federal civilian employees may apply for this position. If selected, a break in service of at least 4 calendar days may be required prior to appointment to this position.

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.
- Meet the minimum qualifications requirements for the position
- 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.

This is a bargaining unit position. If additional selections are made, those positions may or may not be in a bargaining unit. To learn more about bargaining units at NASA please click here NASA Unions (Bargaining Units) | NASA.

How you will be evaluated

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

Direct Hire Authority: These positions will be filled through the Office of Personnel Management's Direct Hire Authority. Category rating and veterans' preference will not be considered in evaluating applicants. For more information on Direct Hire Authority, please see: OPM Direct Hire Fact Sheet.

Veterans: Under the provisions of Direct Hire Authority, veterans' preference does not apply. However, applicants who are eligible for veterans' preference are encouraged to include that information in their application and submit supporting documentation (i.e. DD-214, or other substantiating documents). For more information please see: Veterans' Preference information on the FedsHireVets website.

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:

  • Earth Science
  • Oral Communication
  • Technical Work and Team Management
  • 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.

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