Summary This position is located in the Air Traffic Organization (ATO), System Operations Services, National Airspace System (NAS) Operations Directorate. This Directorate is responsible for overseeing, planning, implementing, directing, and continuously monitoring the tactical and strategic operations supporting air traffic management services. Responsibilities As an Aerospace Engineer, he/she applies experience and advanced knowledge of aeronautical science and aviation technology to support the real time management and integration of commercial launch, reentry, and site operations into the National Airspace System (NAS). He/she performs multiple, varying, and complex assignments and plans the implementation of projects/programs under limited direction of a manager or more experienced engineer. This work is necessary to ensure that emerging aviation systems and processes do not pose unacceptable risks to the public and that they can operate in compliance with safety and regulatory requirements. As a contributing specialist, participates on project for the preliminary design reviews to evaluate and analyze the impact of space transportation activities on NAS operations. He she may serve as team leader for small projects or single work activities. He/she applies skill conducting safety evaluations of space transportation activities to analyze and implement updated software tools that control or monitor safety - critical functions associated with launch and reentry of expendable and reusable launch vehicles. Analyzes and evaluates launch and range safety operations and requirements that involve the design, development, test and evaluation of vehicle systems and components that include autonomous flight safety systems and the associated software. He/she applies experience and advanced knowledge of aerospace engineering principles and tools to analyze and conduct efficiency evaluations of space transportation activities. He/she conducts technical reviews and provides recommendations regarding the adequacy of technical analyses, procedures, or policies. Evaluates procedural process changes for launch and reentry operations to assess impact on NAS operations. Contacts are internal and external and include representatives from other FAA lines of business and government agencies such as the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He/she may act as a key technical point of contact for assigned activities and contributes to the preparation of management/technical reports or contractual documents. He/she may be called upon to communicate the overall results of a project or work activity to FAA management, the aviation and aerospace industries, andother external parties. Although established policies/procedures provide guidance for most assignments, he/she is allowed considerable discretion to select the most appropriate approach or to recommend new approaches. Assignments typically require solutions that are to be derived by interpreting and extrapolating from situations that were faced in the past. Provides recommendations to improve work processes. Provides guidance to lower-level staff to solve difficult technical issues. Resolves all but unique technical problems without the intervention of management or a more experienced engineer. The Team Manager reviews work periodically, typically at major milestones and at completion, for technical compliance and alignment with the requirements of the project or other work activity. Requirements Conditions of Employment We are not accepting applications from noncitizens. Qualifications Basic Requirements: Successful completion of a full four-year professional engineering curriculum leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in engineering in an accredited college or university. To be acceptable the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET as a professional engineering curriculum; 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); (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics; OR, Alternative Requirements: 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 professional 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: Professional registration: Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico; Written Test: Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico; Specified academic courses: Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A; Related curriculum: - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. In addition to the basic requirements, all applicants must demonstrate at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (FV-H FG/GS-12). 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 described as: Experience analyzing and evaluating safety critical software to ensure software safety requirements are met. Experience applying aerospace engineering principles and tools to analyze space transportation activities Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. Education This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page). Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration. Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation. Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered. This position has a minimum education requirement as specified in the Qualifications Required section. College/University transcript(s), or applicable documentation, described in the Qualifications Required section must be submitted by the closing date of this announcement to show the requirements are met; Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration. Please see Important Information Regarding Education under Required Documents section. 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. This position is covered by the FAA Core Compensation plan. Additional information about core compensation is available on the following website: http://jobs.faa.gov/FAACoreCompensation.htm . To view the full qualification requirements for this position, go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), General Schedule Qualification Standards, Professional and Scientific Positions: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800/ 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 initial 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 chose 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 based on the work history and experience you provided. Your answers may be adjusted by a Human Resource 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 priority grouping and referred to the selecting official for consideration. Some, all or none of the applicants may be interviewed. Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA
