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Aviation Safety Inspector (Air Carrier Operations) (APOI)

Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration
FAA, Flight Standards Services, Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance, DFW CMO

Summary

The Assistant Principal Operations Inspector (APOI) serves as a full assistant to a Principal Inspector performing the full range of certification, surveillance, and inspection duties for assigned air carriers, air operators, air agencies, airmen, and designees and has program responsibility to assure that assigned organizations meet Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations with respect to operations programs. Assists in the establishment of work programs for inspection and surveillance.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
12/16/2025 to 01/05/2026
Salary
$109,767 to - $142,700 per year

Salary includes locality pay of 21.93%.

Pay scale & grade
FG 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Clermontville, OH
Telework eligible
Yes—Situational telework may be permitted in accordance with agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - The job may require up to 25% travel.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
NA
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
Yes
Bargaining unit status
Yes - This position is represented by PASS: Flight Standards Services.
Announcement number
AAL-AVS-26-AKWL-96681
Control number
852508000

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to permanent FAA employees in AVS and AMA-200

Duties

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Under the general direction of the POI/SPOI, accomplishes the following:

Technical Administration: On a continuing basis, ensures assigned organizations are properly and adequately organized, staffed and equipped; establishes and conducts adequate training programs; maintains record keeping systems; and facilities and ensures procedures meet regulatory requirements. Chairs joint FAA and industry meetings. Maintains regular contact with organizations assigned and coordinates with top management officials. Requires or directs correction of deficiencies/discrepancies and refuses or withdraws approval if they cannot be resolved. Responsible for conducting enforcement investigations and preparation of final reports and recommendations on disposition. Performs or supervises the emergency suspension of certificates or cancellation of operations specifications. Conducts or directs the reexamination of certificated airmen or recertification of an operator or agency. Conducts investigations of public complaints, congressional inquiries and aircraft incidents and accidents. Provides verbal and/or written technical assistance to legal counsel, testifies at court trials and formal hearings and gives dispositions. Coordinates minimum equipment list (MEL) approvals with the principal inspector. Takes enforcement action in instances of noncompliance with the MEL. Coordinates with geographic inspectors for the accomplishment of non-routine air carrier surveillance.

Certification: Approves/accepts or disapproves/rejects manuals and revisions. May require amendments to previously approved manuals to accomplish correcting any conflict with regulatory requirements; eliminating unsafe practices: and/or improving the specificity of instruction. Evaluates training programs to ensure they meet requirements of 14 CFR. Approves or disapproves these training programs including flight simulators, training devices or other equipment used in these programs. Approves/disapproves designation of check airmen and makes recommendations on the appointment of designees. Evaluates operations and facilities by on-site inspections and review of reports by geographic inspectors or others. Negotiates changes essential or desirable in policies and procedures. Determines appropriate methods and/or plans for securing corrective action and determines through on-site inspection or inspector reports the effectiveness of any action. Evaluates and approves/disapproves requests to operate under conditions not previously authorized and may prescribe additional conditions and limitations as appropriate. Approves the original issuance of operations specifications and issues original operating certificates. Approves amendments to operations specifications. Evaluates the safety of proposed changes in route or airport authorizations; prescribes changes required before approval. Directs or participates in flight evaluations to determine compliance with 14 CFR. Recommends changes that will be required prior to approval.

Surveillance: Responsible for monitoring all phases of operations including training programs and records, base and station facilities, and route systems. Coordinates with and reviews reports from geographic inspectors and others to identify trends which indicate deterioration in the safety of operations. Directs or suggests changes required to correct trends. Monitors the activities of designated examiners, check airmen and instructors.

Flight Program:Participates in the FAA flight program which requires the inspector to maintain qualification and currency requirements applicable to operations inspectors for the purpose of supporting the FAA in a variety of flight-related functions to include training and evaluation of designated pilot examiners. Evaluates tasks contained in the FAA practical test standards and airman certification standards by participating as pilot in command or as a crewmember.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
  • Must submit an SF50 (See Required Documents).
  • Designated or Random Drug Testing required.
  • Position is designated as Moderate Risk; a background investigation may be required.

Qualifications

General Requirements for All Positions:

  1. Not more than two separate incidents involving Federal aviation regulations violations in the last 5 years;
  2. Valid State driver's license;
  3. Fluency in the English language;
  4. No chemical dependencies or drug abuse that could interfere with job performance; and
  5. High school diploma or equivalent.

Medical Requirements: Applicants must be physically able to perform the duties of the Aviation Safety Inspector position in a safe and efficient manner, and must meet all of the following requirements:

  1. Have good distant vision in each eye and be able to read printed materials the size of typewritten characters (glasses and contact lenses permitted) without strain;
  2. Have the ability to hear the conversational voice (hearing aid permitted);
  3. Not have any physical condition that would cause them to be a hazard to themselves or others or that would interfere with their ability to fly as passengers in a variety of aircraft.

In addition, applicants for positions that require participation in the operation of aircraft must:

  1. Possess a valid second-class medical certificate in accordance with Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) regulations; and
  2. Pass recurrent medical examinations as prescribed by the FAA.

Applicants not requiring valid second-class medical certificates who are tentatively selected will be required to:

  1. Provide documentation from a board-certified physician certifying that they meet the minimal medical requirements; or
  2. Individuals who do not meet the minimum medical requirements but who are otherwise qualified will receive an individualized assessment to determine whether they can perform the essential functions of the position.

Aviation Safety Inspector (Air Carrier Operations):

When the predominant work involves air carrier operations, applicants for Aviation Safety Inspector (Operations) positions must meet all of the following requirements.

  1. At least 1 year of pilot experience in multi-engine aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds maximum certificated takeoff weight;
  2. Not more than 2 flying accidents during the last 5 years in which the applicant's pilot error was involved;
  3. Professional flying skill as demonstrated in a simulator check to Airline Transport Pilot Standard.
  4. Minimum 100 flight hours during the last 3 years;
  5. Airline Transport Pilot Certificate or Commercial Pilot Certificate with instrument airplane rating (Department of Navy positions require pilot experience as demonstrated by previous ATP level performance in large multi-engine airplanes and helicopters);
  6. Possession of a valid second-class FAA medical certificate (For positions within the Department of Navy, applicants must also be physically qualified to ride as an observer aboard squadron aircraft. In addition, must also meet physical requirements to travel and lift heavy objects while performing mishap investigations); and
  7. Minimum 1,500 total flight hours.

In addition, applicants must demonstrate in their application that they possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FV-H or GS/FG-12 level. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Specialized experience is defined as: assisting, conducting, or performing various technical functions related to certification, surveillance, investigation, preparing final reports to include recommendations on dispositions and enforcement activities for FAR Part 121 air carriers/air operators.

Note: Recency of specialized experience is waived for employees currently in the 1825 series.

Applicants should include examples of specialized experience in their work history.

Qualifications must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered for the job.

Education

Education is not qualifying for this position and may not be substituted for experience.

Preview job questionnaire

Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire.

Additional information

We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions.
Position may be subject to a background investigation.
A one-year probationary period may be required.

The person selected for this position may be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of entry on duty. FAA policy limits certain outside employment and financial investments in aviation-related companies. www.faa.gov/jobs/workinghere/financial-disclosure-requirements

This position is covered by the Department of Transportation's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. Any applicant tentatively selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment or pre-appointment drug screening. Persons occupying a "testing designated position (TDP)" will be subject to random drug and/or alcohol testing.

As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of the Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) narratives from the application in the hiring process for all announcements. Therefore, as an applicant for this announcement, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA.

In lieu of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you choose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and clearly reflect the highest level of ability. Your KSA answers will be evaluated further to validate whether the level that you selected is appropriate. Your answers may be adjusted by a Human Resources Specialist as appropriate.

Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and selective factor(s), if applicable, may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: score order, category grouping, or alphabetical and referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualifications will be placed in alphabetical order and referred to the selecting official for consideration.

In-grade/Downgrade applications will be accepted.

If the Agency decides to interview any qualified employee on the selection list, then all on the list who are qualified must be interviewed. If the selection list is shortened to a best qualified list through a comparative process, then the best qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list.

Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA

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.



IMPORTANT: Applicants may be rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position(s). All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated. Ensure that your application package/resume supports your responses.

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