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General Engineer/Physical Scientist

Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

As a global leader in public health & health promotion, CDC is the agency Americans trust with their lives. In addition to our everyday work, each CDC employee has a role in supporting public health emergency management, whether through temporary assignments to emergency responses or sustaining other CDC programs and activities while colleagues respond. Join our team to use your talent, training, & passion to help CDC continue as the world's premier public health organization. Visit www.cdc.gov

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/14/2023 to 06/28/2023
Salary
$46,696 to - $76,717 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Locations
5 vacancies in the following locations:
Bruceton, PA
Morgantown, WV
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
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
HHS-CDC-MP-23-11997602
Control number
731916200

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Duties

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As a General Engineer/Physical Scientist you will:

  • Serve in a developmental capacity at the entry level of the position
  • Primarily focus on advancing the state of knowledge and application of personal protective technologies
  • Perform scientific studies including laboratory and field investigations to evaluate chemical, biological, and radiological hazards
  • Investigate, analyze, and interpret the composition, physical and chemical properties, structures and chemical reactions of substances and materials for safety and personal protective technologies
  • Participate as a team member in a developmental capacity reviewing and evaluating existing and proposed requirements for personal protective technology and protective product design, performance, quality and reliability
  • Participate in the development and recommendation on the use of product-safety standards and associated operational and testing procedures
  • Identify failure mechanisms in various applications, establish and support innovative technologies and develop appropriate user instructions and use guidelines in support of other scientists/engineers

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Background Investigation is required.
  • E-Verify: If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System. Federal law requires DHS to use the E-Verify System to verify employment eligibility of all new hires, and as a condition of continued employment obligates the new hire to take affirmative steps to resolve any discrepancies identified by the system. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is an E-Verify Participant.
  • Direct Deposit: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
  • One-year probationary period may be required.
  • Travel, transportation, and moving expenses will be paid: No
  • Drug Screening Required: No
  • Student loan repayment incentive may be authorized: No
  • Annual Leave for non-federal service may be authorized: No
  • Promotion potential: Yes. This position has promotion potential to GS-12. Promotion to the next grade level is at management's discretion and is based on your meeting qualifications and time-in-grade requirements, demonstrated ability to perform the higher level duties, the continuing need for the higher level duties, and administrative approval. Promotion to the next grade level is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied.
  • Supervisory position: No
  • Time in grade (TIG) must be met within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.
  • All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service. Current or Former Political Appointees: Submit SF-50.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications for GS-0801-07/09:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; 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.

B. 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 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:

1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) 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.

2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

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

4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's 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.)

Basic Qualifications for GS-1301-07/09:

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 electronics.

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.

Minimum Qualifications for GS-0801/1301-07:

Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-05 in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph.

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include experience working with a team or higher level scientist in applying and adapting physical science/engineering methods and approaches.

OR

Have 1 year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement.

S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.

  1. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.
  2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of:
    • 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or
    • 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2years of the curriculum.
  3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies listed below. Agencies considering eligibility based on any society not included in the following list must ensure that the honor society meets the minimum requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies. Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision.

Minimum Qualifications for GS-0801/1301-09:

Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-07 in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph.

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include experience working with a team or higher level scientist in applying and adapting physical science/engineering methods and approaches associated with personal protective technologies (PPT).

OR

Have 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.

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.

Education

Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the education requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit:
https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications.

Additional information

Positions may be available in multiple locations across the United States, or eligible for telework and remote work opportunities, based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Workplace Flexibilities Policy.

This position is eligible for inclusion in the Bargaining Unit.If the duty station is finalized in Bruceton, PA, employees in this position will be represented by the AFGE, Local 1916, (BU Code - 2308).

This position is eligible for inclusion in the Bargaining Unit.If the duty station is finalized in Morgantown, WV employees in this position will be represented by the AFGE, Local 3430, (BU Code - 2168).

To Remain An Active Duty USPHS Commissioned Corps Officer

  • Join more than 6,500 highly qualified public health professionals as part of the U.S. Public Health Service. Overseen by the Surgeon General, you will be part of an elite and diverse team of professionals essential to public health leadership and exemplary clinical service
  • PHS Officers interested in performing the duties of this position with the Commissioned Corps, you are welcome to apply and receive a courtesy referral. Note that a courtesy referral is not a competitive civil service process and does not provide civil service status for the selected employee. Click Here for the comparison chart of Commissioned Corps ranks to civil service, which advises you on potential billet rankings.
Additional selections may be made within the same geographical location CDC-wide.

The utilization of shared certificates within multiple Centers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used from this vacancy announcement for specialties to include but not limited to: Applied Epidemiology, Behavioral Epidemiology, Chronic Diseases, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, Immunization, Infectious Diseases (e.g. Viral, Parasitic, etc.), Influenza, Malaria, Non-communicable Diseases, Outbreak Investigations, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), Surveillance, Tropical Medicine, Tuberculosis (TB), Viral Hepatitis, and/or Zoonotic Diseases.

Recruitment and/or relocation incentives may be authorized.

If you are a veteran with preference eligibility and you are claiming 5-points veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, you must also submit an SF-15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" plus the proof required by that form. For more information on veterans' preference see http://www.usajobs.gov/Veterans

Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov.)

For information on "People with Disabilities" please see http://opm.gov/disability/PeopleWithDisabilities.asp
and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/getting-a-job/sampleschedaletters.pdf.

How you will be evaluated

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

This vacancy is also being announced concurrently with vacancy announcement HHS-CDC-DE-23-11997603 under competitive procedures. Please review that announcement to see if you are eligible for consideration under competitive procedures.

NOTE: Applicants must apply separately for each announcement in order to be considered.

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within the local commuting area(s) of the location identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) at HHS. Clearance of CTAP/ICTAP will be applied for similar positions across HHS.
Once the application process is complete, a review of resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):
  • Data Collection
  • General Engineering
  • Integrity
  • Oral Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Research (2)
  • Technology Application
  • Written Communication

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