Summary Serves as an Aerospace Engineer specializing in aircraft icing within Aircraft Certification. Plans and accomplishes highly complex and challenging projects/programs and other work activities under the minimal direction of a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced engineer Responsibilities The Aerospace Engineer plans and accomplishes highly complex and challenging projects/programs and other work activities under the minimal direction of a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced engineer. Applies experience and comprehensive knowledge of engineering principles, theories, and concepts applicable to solve complex aircraft icing problems. Understands and applies new technologies and methodologies to develop improved technical processes. Draws on experience to solve unusual problems and may create new solutions and policy interpretations as needed. Resolves all but unique technical problems without the intervention of management or a more experienced engineer. Works to ensure standardized application of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness requirements worldwide. Provides policy, guidance, and instruction to others, internally and externally. Develops plans, techniques, and policies to address current or anticipated problems and issues. Uses cutting-edge engineering analysis and modeling to support safe and effective certification. Develops predictive models that enhance operational safety and inform future FAA policy, certification guidance, and decision-making. Assesses the accuracy and reliability of computational tools used to simulate aircraft icing conditions. Leads efforts to validate these models using wind tunnel data, flight test results, and publicly available datasets to evaluate ice accretion on aircraft surface. Ensures that modeling techniques support certification decisions and align with FAA safety standards. Considers the objectives of the Aircraft Certification Service and the FAA when developing, integrating and implementing solutions to technical issues. Lead the development, refinement, and improvement of airworthiness standards, advisory circulars, and guidance materials related to aircraft icing and new ice protection systems. Works to ensure these standards reflect current industry practices and are applied consistently worldwide. Interprets and applies knowledge of the aircraft certification process and regulatory requirements for aircraft icing in parts 23, 25, 27, and 29 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. Proposes, defines, and oversees research associated with new or novel designs or technologies. Develops innovative approaches within broad policy guidance to address emerging technical challenges. Plans and manages multiple high-priority engineering initiatives related to aircraft icing standards and certification. Develops program objectives, sets measurable performance goals, and adjusts tasks and timelines to meet changing needs and ensure successful outcomes. Defines, organizes, and assigns resources to accomplish organizational objectives. Allocates resources to accomplish large work activities within established schedules. Leads the implementation of technical programs by coordinating resources, setting milestones, and tracking progress across multiple projects. Ensures alignment with FAA safety objectives and adjusts plans as needed to respond to emerging issues or shifting priorities. Frequently works across functional and/or organizational lines. Represents FAA as a senior technical point of contact on aircraft icing projects, programs, and inter-agency initiatives. Coordinates significant technical matters with representatives of externally organizations. Communicates results and policy implications to all levels of the FAA within the Aircraft Certification Service, to counterparts in other lines of business such as the Flight Standards Service, the Office of NextGen, and to the public. Presents briefings to obtain consensus/approval on policies. Develops strategic responses to safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other internal/external entities. Provides policy, guidance and instruction to others, internally and externally, resolving most technical issues without management. Requirements Conditions of Employment We are not accepting applications from noncitizens. Qualifications To view the complete OPM qualification standard for the Group Coverage Qualification Standard for General Engineer, Series 801, please refer to: General Engineering Series 0801 Basic Requirements: Degree in 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. To qualify for this position, you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to FV-I, FG/GS 13. 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: Experience conducting or supporting wind tunnel tests and flight tests to evaluate ice accretion on aircraft surface and participating in or contributing to the integration and implementation of aircraft icing solutions. Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. Interview: If the Agency decides to interview any qualified employee on the selection list, then all on the list who are qualified must be interviewed. If the selection list is shortened to a best qualified list through a comparative process, then the best qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list. Selection may be made from this announcement or from ACT-AVS-26-AIR-99422. 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. 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 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 KSAs listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in alphabetical order and referred to the selecting official for consideration. Please ensure you answer all questions and follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered for the job. Applicants may be asked to verify information on your application for employment with the FAA. This announcement will be used to make selections throughout the AIR organization. Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA
