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Meteorologist

Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service (NWS), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located within the Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service (NWS), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) with one vacancy located in Boise, ID or Norman, OK.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NWS NCEP SPC-25-12631659-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
12/10/2024 to 12/26/2024
Salary
$122,198 to - $158,860 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Boise, ID
Norman, OK
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
Multiple Schedules
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
NWS NCEP SPC-25-12631658-DE
Control number
822972800

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Duties

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As a Meteorologist, you will perform the following duties:

  • Promotes awareness of fire weather risks and preparedness efforts, identifying priority preparedness objectives and develops national projects to meet those objectives.
  • Provides authoritative guidance regarding the fire weather program and related warning missions and works closely with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) leadership team to ensure the external communication of SPC fire weather forecasts achieves the highest level of effectiveness.
  • The incumbent serves as a Lead Fire Weather Forecaster when working operational shifts, utilizing an expert-level mastery of fire weather meteorology in the preparation of both routine and unscheduled multi-day SPC fire weather forecasts involving highly complex and variable atmospheric processes affecting the United States.
  • The incumbent may serve as an Incident Meteorologist (IMET), providing on-site or remote Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) to emergency managers, emergency response officials, and federal, state and regional decision makers.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Key Requirements:
  1. Must be a U.S. Citizen.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualification and Other Information.
  5. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov).
  6. Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.
  7. This position is not in the bargaining unit.
  1. A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  2. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements 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 Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

A. Degree: meteorology, atmospheric science, or other natural science major that included:
1. At least 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of credit in meteorology/atmospheric science including a minimum of:
a. Six semester hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics;
b. Six semester hours of analysis and prediction of weather systems (synoptic/mesoscale);
c. Three semester hours of physical meteorology; and
d. Two semester hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere and/or instrumentation.
2. Six semester hours of physics, with at least one course that includes laboratory sessions.
3. Three semester hours of ordinary differential equations.
4. At least nine semester hours of course work appropriate for a physical science major in any combination of three or more of the following: physical hydrology, statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, radiative transfer, aeronomy, advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

To qualify at the GS-14 level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

  • Performing fire weather forecasting and presents forecasts to the leadership of an organization;
  • Assisting in developing policies and plans for fire safety; and
  • Ensuring functioning of staff, dissemination of products, and fulfillment of required activities related to fire weather forecasting.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
  • Occasional travel may be required, up to 10%.
  • The position requires working rotating shifts in a 24 x 7 environment, including holidays and weekends.
  • During periods of threatening weather or rapidly changing weather conditions, the increase in workload requires periods of acute mental alertness and produces considerable mental stress. Adverse weather conditions may require the incumbent to work hours longer than the usual shift.
  • As an Incident Meteorologist (IMET), the incumbent may travel to a remote site that serves as the "Incident Command" for first responders fighting a fire. This can require travel on short (less than 24 hours) notice to occasionally very remote locations, sometimes even sleeping in a rental car if hotels are not readily available. *There is a pool of available IMETs from which to draw, if an employee person is unable to travel to a particular fire.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above 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: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation

Additional information

Well-qualified for CTAP and ICTAP eligibility includes those candidates who have been determined to exceed minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a rating of 85, but otherwise may or may not be among the highly or best-qualified candidates. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Career Transition Resources website at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

CTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:

  1. A copy of your specific RIF notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; a Certificate of Expected Separation (CES); or certification that you are in a surplus organization or occupation (this could be a position abolishment letter, a notice eligibility for discontinued service retirement, or similar notice).
  2. A copy of your SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action", noting current position, grade level, and duty location;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.
ICTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:
  1. A copy of your RIF separation notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; notice of disability annuity termination; certification from your former agency that it cannot place you after your recovery from a compensable injury; or certification from the National Guard Bureau or Military Department that you are eligible for disability retirement;
  2. A copy of your SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" documenting your RIF separation, noting your positions, grade level, and duty location, and/or Agency certification of inability to place you through RPL, etc;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.
Non-Competitive Reinstatement to a Higher Grade/Band than Previously Held MUST submit the following documents:
1. SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action: you must provide the most current Notification of Personnel Action (Form SF-50) that verifies career/career-conditional status, title, series, and highest grade level held on a permanent basis for your previous position. (do not submit an Award SF-50) AND, the SF-50 that verifies your separation date; AND.
2. Performance Appraisal - most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Do not submit a performance plan that does not include this information.

NOAA participates in e-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.

The Department of the Commerce (DOC) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

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 job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/No, Multiple Choice questions) and place you in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are "gold", "silver" and "bronze". However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the "gold" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. The best-qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:

Incident Management, Meteorology, Partnering, and Technical Competence

Due weight shall be given to performance appraisals and awards in accordance with 5 CFR 335.103(b)(3), during the interview/selection process conducted by the hiring manager. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.

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