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EXPLOSIVES SAFETY SPECIALIST

Department of the Air Force
Air Force Safety Center
AF SAFETY CENTER FO

Summary

Click on "Learn more about this agency" button below to view Eligibilities being considered and other IMPORTANT information.

The primary purpose of this position is to serve as senior advisor to the AF Chief of Safety and the AF SafetyCenter (AFSEC) staff on nuclear weapons system surety group, AF nuclear surety program management guidanceand explosive safety for AF nuclear weapons systems.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
02/17/2026 to 03/02/2026
Salary
$127,141 to - $165,288 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
Few vacancies in the following location:
Kirtland AFB, NM
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
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Top Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
8Y-AFPC-12890137-139978-KMR
Control number
857820800

Duties

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Duty 1: As the AF Nuclear Weapons System Surety Group (NWSSG) Administrator plans, organizes, and directs the activities of the AF Nuclear Weapons System Surety Group, ensuring that AF Nuclear Weapon platforms maintain compliance with the four DoD Nuclear Weapons System Surety Standards.

Duty 2: stablishes, develops, and maintains effective working relationships with AF A10, AF A4, DTRA, National Labs, MAJCOM Chiefs of Weapons Safety, and DoD Nuclear Matters.

Duty 3: Establishes nuclear surety and security policies Air Force Nuclear Surety Staff Assistance Visits (NSSAV) and Nuclear Surety Deviations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship Required
  • Males must be registered for Selective Service, see www.sss.gov
  • If authorized, PCS will be paid IAW JTR and AF Regulations. If receiving an authorized PCS, you may be subject to completing/signing a CONUS agreement. More information on PCS requirements, may be found at: https://afciviliancareers.com/regulatory/
  • This posn is subject to provisions of the DoD Priority Placement Program
  • Employee must maintain current certifications
  • Disclosure of Political Appointments
  • Leave accrual may be authorized upon request
  • Depending on the type of position (competitive/excepted) you are selected for, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period OR 2-year trial period.
  • Work will require occasional travel away from the normal duty station on military or commercial aircraft.
  • Possess a minimum of 10-years nuclear surety and explosive safety expertise.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Clearance.
  • This position has been designated by the Air Force as a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the Air Force Civilian Drug Demand Reduction Program. Employee must pass initial and periodic short notice drug testing.
  • Position is designated as Key, shall not be vacated during a national emergency or mobilization without seriously impairing the capability of the parent Federal Agency or office to function effectively.
  • This position must be removed from the Ready Reserve and CAN NOT become a member of the Ready Reserve.
  • A physical is required.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the specialized experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, Administrative and Management Positions.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-13, or equivalent in other pay systems. Examples of specialized experience includes applying knowledge and skill to serve as the recognized command technical authority pertaining to nuclear and explosives safety principles, practices and procedures, body of laws, regulations, and precedent decisions applicable to a broad range of high safety risk civilian and military activities such as munitions maintenance, loading/unloading explosives, missile handling, weapon's firing ranges, bombing ranges, and DoD demolition areas, combat training, sited explosives storage areas, transportation/handling of hazardous materials for operational explosives storage locations, safety awards, and weapons safety education, nuclear surety program management, and many more. Knowledge to develop or extend, recommend, and carry out significant hazard control techniques that will minimize or eliminate unsafe operations and conditions critically affecting a command readiness program. Knowledge of OSD, DOE, and DTRA, analytical techniques, including hazard, fault tree and management oversight and risk tree analysis, sufficient to identify high safety risks to military flight and supporting weapons safety systems of a command program and recommend changes affecting the testing, maintenance, and operation of these systems.

FEDERAL TIME-IN-GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT FOR GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) POSITIONS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in­-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-13 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-14 level. TIG applies if you are in a current GS position or held a GS position within the previous 52 weeks. NOTE: Applicants applying as VEOA candidates who are current GS civil service employees or are prior GS civil service employees within the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

1. Expert knowledge of Federal, OSD, DoD, DOE, DoT, NATO, and Air Force safety principles, practices, procedures, laws, regulations, and current legislative issues which provide the capability to recommend substantive program changes or alternative new courses of managerial action requiring the extension and modification of existing weapons and explosives safety techniques critical to the resolution of weapons safety management problems as well as plan, develop, implement, and coordinate a MAJCOM weapons safety program.
2. Knowledge of Federal, OSD, DoD, DoE, DoT, NATO, and Air Force weapons safety requirements, methods, techniques, and procedures which includes: munitions maintenance, loading/unloading nuclear, explosives, missile handling, weapon's firing ranges, combat training, sited nuclear and explosives storage areas, transportation/handling of hazardous materials for operational explosives storage locations, safety awards, and weapons safety education, and risk assessment, accident and mishap investigation and reporting; etc.
3. Knowledge of organizational and functional responsibilities and operations of the employing organization to identify problems and develop innovative solutions and the ability to research, analyze, interpret and apply rules, regulations, and procedures, plan and organize work.
4. Knowledge of construction standards, methods, practices and techniques, materials, and equipment to determine compliance with regulations and standards.
5. Ability to coordinate and integrate the work activities of several organizational segments or several different projects and to adjust work operations to meet emergency, changing program, or production requirements within available resources and with minimum sacrifice of quantity or quality of work.
6. Ability to deal with widely diverse individuals and groups in gaining support for program goals and working out solutions to problems as well as gaining cooperation from others through tact, courtesy, diplomacy, and consensus and to communicate effectively both orally and in writing as well as to use computer software programs.

PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and or part-time work. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

VOLUNTEER WORK EXPERIENCE: Refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (i.e., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student and social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills that can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP eligible click here. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated well qualified or above for this position. You must submit a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location.

Employed Annuitants (Reemployed Annuitants): Applicants in receipt of an annuity based on civilian employment in the Federal Service are subject to the DoD Policy on The Employment of Annuitants. Click here for more information.

Current Federal Civilian employees may apply for temporary and term positions and if selected, a break in service may be required prior to appointment to the position.

120-Day Register: This announcement may result in a 120-day register that may be used to fill like vacancies for 120 days after the closing date. Applicants may be referred for consideration as vacancies occur.

Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible: MSP applicants, if determined best qualified, must be selected and placed at the highest grade for which they applied. You must include a completed copy of the DD Form 3145-4, Military Spouse PPP Self-Certification Checklist dated within 30 days along with the documents identified on the checklist to verify your eligibility for MSP. Click here to obtain/download a copy of the DD Form 3145-4, Military Spouse PPP Self-Certification Checklist.

Priority Placement Program (PPP) Applicant Eligible: PPP Applicants, if determined well qualified and selected, will be placed at the at the full performance level. You must include the applicable completed copy of the PPP Self-Certification Checklist dated within 30 days along with the documents identified on the checklist to verify your eligibility as a PPP Applicant. Click here to obtain/download a copy of the applicable PPP Self-Certification Checklist (DD3145-1 through DD3145-4, select the appropriate checklist for your claimed preference). To determine the applicable PPP Self-Certification Checklist required to substantiate the eligibilities you are claiming, refer to the AF Civilian Employment Eligibility Guide located in the Required Documents section of this vacancy announcement.

Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have direct deposit.

Disabled veteran leave is available to a Federal employee hired on/after 5 Nov 2016, who is a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more. For more information, click here.

If you have questions regarding this announcement and have hearing or speech difficulties click here.

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.

Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

BASIS OF RATING: Your application will be rated under the Cut Point procedures based on the extent to which the quality, depth, and complexity of your experience and education relate to the qualification requirements. Additional points are not added for Veteran's Preference; however, Veteran's Preference is considered where applicable.

Best Qualified Group: Candidates in this category possess exceptional skills and experience to exceed well above the minimum requirements.
Fully Qualified Group: Candidates in this category possess good skills and experience above the minimum requirements.
Basically Qualified Group: Candidates in this category meet the minimum education and/or experience requirements.

The resume/documents you submit must support your responses to the online questionnaire. If your application contradicts or does not support your questionnaire responses, you will receive a rating of "not qualified" or "insufficient information" and you will not receive further consideration for this job.

Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

APPRAISALS/AWARDS: Hiring Managers use objective methods and consider previous performance appraisals and awards in the selection process. Current Federal Civilian employees should list any relevant performance related rating and/or awards in your resume.

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