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ENGINEER/SCIENTIST

Department of the Navy
Naval Sea Systems Command
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD)

Summary

This is a public notice flyer to notify interested applicants of anticipated vacancies. Applications will not be accepted through this flyer. Interested applicants must follow the directions in the "How to Apply" section of this flyer to be considered. There may or may not be actual vacancies filled from this flyer. Notice of Result letters will not be sent to applicants who respond to this flyer.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
12/16/2025 to 02/17/2026
Salary
$46,148 to - $156,755 per year
Pay scale & grade
ND 2 - 4
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Dahlgren, VA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—This position is eligible for ad-hoc/situational telework at the discretion of management.
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
4
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
DE-12846967-26-BWH
Control number
852464900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

Duties

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  • You will serve as an ENGINEER or SCIENTIST in the ELECTROMAGNETIC AND SENSOR SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT, SYSTEMS SAFETY ENGINEERING DIVISION of Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD).
  • You will collaborate with Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) Principles for Safety (PFSs) and Safety Leads on the execution of the VLS safety program.
  • You will execute hazard analyses to identify hardware, software, and human interface hazards; causal factors; and mitigations associated with VLS.
  • You will support design reviews and technical interchange meetings to provide safety input to requirements, design, architecture, and testing.
  • You will provide safety objectives and requirements, review results for safety significance, and document risks associated with VLS analyses.
  • You will document and communicate results of technical data and analyses to internal and external customers.
  • You will provide technical input to the development of safety technical data packages and briefing materials to support safety review boards.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a US Citizen.
  • Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
  • Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
  • New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
  • Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
  • 1515/1550 Series Only: This is a Cyberspace Workforce position 801 - Program Manager, Basic (B) the incumbent is required to obtain and maintain qualifications in DoDM 8140.03 Cyber Workforce Qualification and Department of Navy policies.
  • This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.
  • This position is covered under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA). Certification in the Acquisition Functional Area and category assigned to the position is required within established category timeframes

Qualifications

This is an Interdisciplinary position that can be filled by the 0801 (General Engineering), 1301 (General Physical Science), 1515 (Operations Research, 1520 (Mathematics), or the 1550 (Computer Science) series. The series that the selected applicant will be placed into depends on their qualifications.

ND-04: Your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-03 pay band (GS 9-11 equivalent) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector as a professional engineer or scientist leading the implementation of system safety practices in accordance with applicable policies and procedures, such as MIL-STD 882E, during the life cycle of weapon and combat systems.

ND-03: Your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-02 pay band (GS 5-8 equivalent) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector as a professional engineer or scientist applying applicable system safety methods and procedures, such as MIL-STD 882E, during the life cycle of weapon and combat systems.

ND-02: You must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study as described in the Education section of this flyer.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1300/general-physical-science-series-1301/
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/operations-research-series-1515/
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/mathematics-series-1520/
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/computer-science-series-1550/

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual. Applicants must possess at least one of the following:

0801:
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. 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 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; 2) Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering examination; 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; or 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. OPM stipulates there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience.

1301:
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,
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.

1515:
Degree: in operations research; OR at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses requiring substantial competence in college-level mathematics or statistics. At least 3 of the 24 semester hours must have been in calculus.

1520:
Degree: mathematics; or the equivalent of a major that included at least 24 semester hours in mathematics. OR,
Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in mathematics (including at least 24 semester hours in mathematics), as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
AND
The total course work in either option above must have included differential and integral calculus and, in addition, four advanced mathematics courses requiring calculus or equivalent mathematics courses as a prerequisite.

1550:
Degree: Bachelor's degree in computer science or bachelor's degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.

Substitution of Education:
The following education can be used in substitution for specialized experience:
ND-02: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study or specific course requirements generally as stated in paragraph A in the individual occupational requirements.
ND-03: Successful completion of 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree.
ND-04: Education cannot be used in lieu of specialized experience.

Additional information

This announcement uses the Science Technology Reinvention Laboratories (STRL) Bachelor Degree and Advanced Degree Direct Hire Authorities (DHA) to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.

This position is part of the Warfare Centers Personnel Demonstration Project. The full performance level of ND-04 pay band encompasses positions equivalent to the GS-12 and GS-13. The ND-03 pay band encompasses positions equivalent to the GS-09 through the GS-11. The ND-02 pay band encompasses positions equivalent to the GS-05 through the GS-08.

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Several vacancies may be filled.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf.

Veteran's preference does not apply when selecting individuals under this specific hiring authority. However, if you claim veteran's preference, you will be required to submit supporting documentation with your application as described in the Required Documents section below.

Vacancies filled from this announcement may be filled at any grade level listed.

If selected below the full performance level, you may be noncompetitively promoted to the next higher grade level after meeting all regulatory requirements, and upon the recommendation of management. Promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.

As vacancies occur, the Human Resources Office will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this flyer. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume, along with your supporting documentation.

If selected, you may be required to provide additional supporting documentation.

If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may be found ineligible/not qualified.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

All qualification requirements must be met before being considered for any vacancies.

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