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Explosives Safety Specialist

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Summary

As Explosives Safety Manager in the Institutional Safety Division within the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, you will be responsible for Johnson Space Center (JSC) training and technical matters associated with explosive and pyrotechnic safety requirements.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
05/11/2026 to 05/15/2026
Salary
$170,618 - $197,200 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Houston, TX
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
15
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
JSC-26-IMP-12955934-RW
Control number
868687900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current Johnson Space Center federal employees serving on a career, career-conditional, Schedule A for individuals with disabilities, or NASA term appointment that provides eligibility to convert to a permanent appointment or a current NASA employee on a long-term rotational assignment to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center or the NASA Safety Center.

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Duties

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  • Manages components of explosives safety program(s) including appropriate ordnance safety precautions, security procedures, and documentation requirements.
  • Coordinates and concurs with requests for deviations and waivers, and serves as the approval/validation authority for all explosive licenses.
  • Serves as expert advisor to the supervisor and other Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) office managers on explosives technical matters associated with spot inspection of test operations, and monitoring and surveillance of pyrotechnics.
  • Advises on or resolves technical matters dealing with explosives/ordnance safety requirements; determines appropriate marking, packaging, storage, and shipping requirements; serves as a member of an explosive safety qualification certification board.
  • Advises Center management on the programmatic health of the Explosives/Propellants/Pyrotechnic Safety Program. Works closely with and utilizes data and information formulated to render explosive safety advice, consultation, and assistance.
  • Manages the explosive safety work supporting all missions. Collaborates with program/project/procurement officials on implementing requirements to achieve program and project goals in accordance with statutory and regulatory responsibilities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must meet qualifications, time in grade, and 90 days after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Qualifications

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

To qualify for GS-15, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level:

  • Providing expertise and overseeing Center explosives activities to ensure they are safe and conform to Agency, Center, and regulatory policy and requirements.
  • Coordinating with outside agencies on the movement of explosive/pyrotechnic related material.
  • Providing oversight and evaluating the technical basis of requests for relief from requirements and providing recommendations to the approving authority.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across NASA within the local commuting area(s) of the location(s) identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) within NASA. CTAP/ICTAP will be cleared for any additional selection from this announcement.

You must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible for this position. To be eligible, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks in a position no more than 1 grade lower than the advertised position. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. If your eligibility for both merit promotion and/or time-in-grade cannot be determined, your application will be rated ineligible.)
Note: Time-in-grade requirements also apply to applicants who have held a non-temporary, competitive service GS position in the past year.

If you have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must:
- Indicate your eligibility when applying for a position. The questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility.
- Be well qualified for this position to receive consideration. Candidates rated in the 'Best Qualified' category are considered well-qualified. Please see 'How You Will Be Evaluated' for more information.
- Submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP as indicated in 'Required Documents'

For additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, click here - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/#ictap.

Qualified NASA term employees who have term conversion eligibility (Term Appointments | NASA) under the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 will be referred and considered equally with other NASA permanent employees under internal competitive placement procedures.

Per Executive Order 14343, this position is not part of a bargaining unit.

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.

You will be evaluated for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements outlined in this vacancy announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be reviewed in conjunction with your responses to the assessment questionnaire. As part of the assessment, your responses to the Written Interview prompts will be scored and used to place you into one of three quality groups. These scores, along with your qualifications and supporting materials, will determine your referral status. Please ensure your application materials and responses accurately reflect your experience and competencies, as misrepresentation may result in removal from consideration.

These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments. They may also be evaluated during a structured interview:

  • Ammunition and Explosives
  • Partnering
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Pyrotechnics
  • Technical Competence
  • Workplace Safety

NASA considers 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.

Under NASA's quality grouping process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three groups identified and defined below:
  • Best Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
  • Highly Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
  • Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Candidates eligible for ICTAP/CTAP, reemployment priority or priority consideration will be referred before other candidates, as necessary. If no such candidates apply or are eligible to be referred, the following candidates will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration:
  • Best Qualified merit promotion candidates. Highly Qualified merit promotion candidates may also be referred, if additional candidates are needed.
  • Qualified candidates eligible for consideration under Schedule A or VRA in accordance with veterans' preference rules, as applicable.
  • Qualified candidates that are eligible for special hiring authorities or non-competitive hiring authorities.
NASA will not ask you to disclose criminal history record information during the application process or before we make a conditional/tentative offer of employment. If you apply for this position and are selected, NASA will conduct a suitability/security background investigation after you accept a tentative job offer. If you feel you are asked to disclose your criminal history before you accept a tentative offer and wish to file a complaint within 30 days, please contact: Agency-FCCJ@NASA.gov.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Explore the Extraordinary
Calling all the innovators, pioneers, visionaries, and adventurers! We are a diverse group of professionals united by a common purpose: to discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity. We're building on our rich legacy by embarking on new and exciting missions, both on Earth and beyond and we're looking for fresh ideas to help us get there. Do you have a passion for exploration? Do you want your work to leave an enduring impact? Join us in a career that can take you farther than you can imagine. At NASA, our work is more than just a profession-it's a lifelong pursuit, a passion, and a chance to change the world. NASA is more than astronauts. We are scientists, engineers, IT specialists, human resources specialists, accountants, writers, technicians and many other kinds of people working together to break barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible.

Explore the extraordinary, every day; explore a career at NASA!

Agency contact information

NASA Shared Services Center
Phone
1-877-677-2123
Fax
1-866-779-6772
Email
nssc-staffing@mail.nasa.gov
Address
Johnson Space Center
2101 NASA Parkway
Houston, TX 77058
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

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