Clarification from the agency

This is a Merit Promotion announcement for Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) employees and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) employees who are eligible under the hiring paths listed. Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

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BSEE/BOEM Wide - This is a Merit Promotion announcement for career and career conditional BSEE/BOEM employees, Career Transition eligibles (CTAP), and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above. Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

1. Supervision/Leadership: Directs and supervises biologists, physical scientists, environmental scientists, environmental engineers, archaeologists, ecologists, etc.) in the Coordination and Review Unit (CRU) who are experts in regulatory compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), National Fishing Enhancement Act (NFEA), and other laws/regulations.

2. Administrative Management of the CRU: As the Unit Supervisor, the incumbent oversees the following items:

• Assigns work to subordinates and reviews resultant products ensuring that National and Regional efficiency, consistency, and accuracy requirements are met; including planning and compliance work to be accomplished by Unit staff, setting and/or adjusting short-term and long-term priorities, preparing work schedules, and using selective consideration of the difficulty and requirements of assignments based upon the capabilities of the employees;
• Approves leave and hears and resolves complaints from employees/grievances before recommending solutions to the Section manager;
• Prepares hiring packages for Unit personnel and makes and/or approves selections for staff positions;

3. Advisory/Compliance Verification/Monitoring/Enforcement: Under this major duty, the incumbent:

• Serves as the Section's Office Compliance Program lead, which includes establishing compliance authority for OCS operations, development of the associated policy/guidance, managing PAS and similar data collection, conducting primary analyses, and preparing reports on the effectiveness of established mitigation and permit/plan conditions placed on OCS activities;
• Oversees, schedules, and participates in Field Inspections related to his/her area of expertise; including acting in a leadership role on Seafloor Compliance, Assessment, and Monitoring Program (SCAMP) projects related to OCS site assessments, compliance research, and other associated offshore efforts, which involve highly-technical sonar, remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), and other remote-sensing surveys at OCS locations;?

4. Liaison/Representation/Procurement: Under this major duty, the incumbent:

• Briefs and defends agency programs, policies, and conclusions to other Federal, State, and local government, industry, private agencies, and the public, prepares and presents briefing papers, policy documents, and technical reports and serves as the bureau representative during meetings with Congressional members and their staff, elected state officials, lead industry representatives, and the media and at various scientific and technical workshops and conferences;
• Establishes and maintains relationships with individuals, industry associations, the media, Federal, State, and Local government bodies, special interests groups/Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other Federal agencies on matters of mutual interest concerning environmental compliance during OCS energy operations; and

5. NEPA Compliance/Decision-making: Under this major duty, the incumbent: Develops and manages policy, assignment, and tracking of NEPA Program and associated coordination efforts to ensure National and Regional compliance with NEPA regarding the permitting of the offshore exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, sulfur, and other minerals on the Federal OCS, and preparing the requisite compliance documentation as it relates to well, pipeline, and structure permits;

• Oversees the preparation and approval of the NEPA compliance work, which includes reviewing, evaluating, and recommending changes/improvements to ensure consistency, accuracy, and the quality of the final documents and the administrative-record; and
• Continually evaluates the NEPA program to support adaptive-management efforts needed to aid agency SMEs and decision makers in improved reviewing/permitting processes and developing more feasible and effective mitigation measures for future operations.

Salary Range Information: $125,776 (Step 1) to $163,514 (Step 10)

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

• A financial disclosure report will be required within 30 days of appointment.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This probationary or trial period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

This is a supervisory position that may require completion of a supervisory probationary period.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 09/18/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

Basic Educational Requirements:

To be qualified for this position, you must meet either A or B below for the series to which you are applying.

Biological Sciences Series, 0401:
A. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Environmental Engineering Series, 0819:

A. 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-

B. 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. Written Test
3. Specified academic courses
4. Related curriculum

For further information on the adequacy of such background demonstrated by one of the above listed are found in the link below: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/environmental-engineering-series-0819/

Physical Science Series, 1301:

A. 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

-B. 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.

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-14 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

1. Experience planning, directing, or leading, either in a team member, senior staff, or supervisory role, dedicated Subject Matter Experts (SMEs; e.g., scientists, engineers, program specialists, technicians) engaged in the reviewing, inspections, or tracking of industry operations;
2. Experience working with industry operations, impact-producing factors (IPFs) resulting from those activities, and the concepts and procedures involved in mitigation development and the appropriate ways in which to monitor their application and develop programs to ensure compliance with the mitigation;
3. Experience with field, site, or facility inspections for verification and compliance oversight of environmental mitigation and conditions of approval (COAs); including preparation of enforcement actions and the development of associated corrective actions;
4. Experience providing expert advice/assistance with policy development and execution for an environmental program to ensure associated industry compliance and reduce/negate potential impacts; and
5. Experience with conducting or managing outreach and engagement associated with bureau programs, policies, and decisions to other Federal, State, local government, industry, private agencies, and/or the public.

Must meet 3 out of 5.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Compliance Inspection
• Decision Making
• Leadership
• Technical Competence

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment(s), including an accomplishment record review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

DUE WEIGHT: Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.