Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

The Radiation Protection Division (RPD) is responsible for developing and recommending policies, criteria, standards and Federal Guidance designed to protect the public and the environment from potentially harmful exposures to ionizing radiation and evaluating human health and environmental risks from radiation exposure. This Division's mission is driven by statute, including the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, the Clean Air Act of 1970, as amended in 1990, Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978; Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and 1987 Amendments, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Land Withdrawal Act of 1992, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

The Division evaluates human health and environmental risks from radiation exposure, based on the best available scientific information and communicates it to stakeholders, including the regulated community and the public. The Division advises the executive branch, state, local and tribal governments on radiation matters directly or indirectly affecting public health.

Specific duties of this position may include, but are not limited to:

- Planning, developing, organizing, directing, and implementing the programs assigned to the Division.

- Developing, establishing, and implementing the goals, procedures, policies, projects, office organizational structure, and short and long range plans, budgets, grants and contracts, and personnel needs for the Division.

- Establishing and maintaining professional relationships with representatives of external and internal partners that include, but are not limited to: foreign governments, other federal agencies and partners, state and local governments, industry, academia, and private organizations that share an interest in the Division's activities.

- Participating in seminars, committees, conferences, panels, and meetings with representatives from the above groups.

- Overseeing the development, assessment, and improvement of management control systems in order to safeguard programs and achieve results while adhering to the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act.

- Ensuring that extramural resources, both procurement (contracts) and assistance (grants, cooperative agreements, and/or interagency agreements) are appropriately managed to maximize use of the Agency's resources.

- Performing the full range of supervisory human resources functions for the Division and subordinate employees.

Conditions of employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen.

If you are selected, you must complete a 1-year SES probationary period, if not previously completed.

The Ethics in Government Act, P.L. 95-521, requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement, OGE-278, prior to assuming the SES position, annually, and upon termination of employment.

REAL ID requirements became effective on 05/07/25. If you are selected for this position and plan to use your driver's license or identification card during the onboarding process (i.e., for employment eligibility verification or to obtain your EPA identification card), the document must be a REAL ID-compliant state-issued driver's license or identification card that includes the REAL ID-compliant star marking, or must be an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL). You will receive information about alternative acceptable documents (e.g., passport) prior to onboarding. For more information about REAL ID, see Dept. of Homeland Security and REAL ID FAQs.

This position is designated as High Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management, you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

You will be required to obtain and maintain a top-secret security clearance.

Pre-employment drug testing is required and random testing thereafter.

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Qualifications

The work of this position is classified in the Program Management, 0340 series where the qualifications include both general management skills and characteristics that are applicable to all SES positions and technical or program responsibilities specific to this position. Applicants must have substantive general experience which provides a good basic or general knowledge of the principles of organization, management and administration; and substantive specialized (operating administrative or managerial) experience in a type of work or a combination of functions directly related to this position.

All applicants must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform in this role. Typically this experience can be found in work within this field or a field that is closely related.

As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service, applicants must also provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below.

A. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory for competitive applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified, unless you are a noncompetitive eligible applicant.

ECQ 1 - COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDING. Involves demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government, commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and commitment to serve the American people.
ECQ 2 - DRIVING EFFICIENCY. Involves demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades.
ECQ 3 - MERIT AND COMPETENCE. Involves demonstrated knowledge, ability, and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality.
ECQ 4 - LEADING PEOPLE. Involves demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and to drive a high-performance, high-accountability culture. This includes, when necessary, the ability to lead people through change and hold individuals accountable.
ECQ 5 - ACHIEVING RESULTS. Involves demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to stated goals from superiors.

Your responses should be clear and concise and show a level of accomplishment and a degree of responsibility. Leadership competencies for each ECQ can be found in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.

B. Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory for all applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified.

TQ 1 - Demonstrated experience leading a technical team to analyze and recommend policy, criteria, standards or guidance designed to protect the public from potentially harmful exposures to ionizing radiation.

TQ 2 - Demonstrated experience in evaluating human health and environmental risks from radiation exposure.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and required documents to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet basic qualification requirements, your application will be evaluated based on the experience described in your resume with the required Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Technical Qualifications (TQs). It will then be forwarded to a three-member Rating Panel consisting of SES members for further review. The Rating Panel will decide which Best Qualified applicants will be issued to the Selecting Official by the Human Resources Office.