DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST/ENGINEER FOR USW THEATER OPERATIONS

Naval Sea Systems Command (DON); Newport (RI); On-site; USD 193,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Naval Sea Systems Command (DON) Newport, RI seeks a Distinguished Scientist/Engineer for USW Theater Operations to serve as an expert and senior leader on theater-level C2 systems within NUWC Division Newport.

The role requires strategic technical direction across NUWC and partner organizations, advancing AI/ML, data analytics, and rapid COA development for Fleet capabilities. Secure, senior leadership responsibilities are involved.

Qualifications

• TQ1: Experience developing, integrating, and transitioning theater-level undersea warfare (USW) operational and decision-support systems; expertise in theater-scale architectures, data fusion, analytics, AI/ML, and interoperability.
• TQ2: Experience providing technical direction for distributed operational systems engineering, experimentation, prototyping, and technology transition strategies.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the national expert and principal scientific advisor to Navy leadership on theater-level USW operations and cross-domain coordination.
• Provide technical mastery in theater-scale architectures, planning tools, data fusion, analytics, and AI/ML to enable rapid COA development.
• Advocate for theater-level needs and guide transition from prototypes to deployable Fleet capabilities.
• Provide strategic technical direction to interdisciplinary teams across NUWC and partner organizations.
• Oversee planning and execution of cross-Fleet experimentation, assessments, and demonstrations.

Job description

Summary

You will serve as the Distinguished Scientist/Engineer for USW Theater Operations for Code 25, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Division Newport (NUWCDIVNPT), serving as an expert and senior leadership member of Undersea Warfare (USW) Command and Control (C2) systems.

Overview

• Location: Naval Base Newport, RI
• Vacancy: 1
• Telework eligible: Yes—This position is eligible for ad‑hoc/situational telework at the discretion of management.
• Remote job: No
• Relocation expenses reimbursed: No
• Salary: $192,695 – $209,600 per year
• Pay scale & grade: ND 6
• Promotion potential: None
• Work schedule: Full‑time
• Travel Required: Occasional travel – You may be expected to travel for this position.
• Appointment type: Permanent
• Supervisory status: No
• Federal service type: This job is in the Competitive Service
• Represented by a union: No
• Drug test: Yes
• Security clearance: Sensitive Compartmented Information
• Financial disclosure required: Yes – Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
• Announcement number: ST‑13099210‑27‑SRP
• Control number: 891076200

This job is open to

• Internal to an agency – Current federal employees of the hiring agency that posted the job announcement.
• Land and base management – Current or former employees of a base management agency.
• Veterans – Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference.
• Military spouses – Military spouses of active duty service members or whose spouse is 100 percent disabled or died on active duty.
• Individuals with disabilities – Individuals who are eligible under Schedule A.
• Clarification from the agency – Current permanent employees of DON and VEOA eligibles.

Duties

• You will serve as the Nationally recognized expert and the principal scientific advisor to Navy leadership on theater‑level operational integration, and champion cross‑domain coordination tools, processes, and architectures.
• You will provide Technical mastery in theater‑scale architectures, operational planning tools, data fusion, analytics, and AI/ML techniques to enable rapid course‑of‑action development.
• You will advocate for theater‑level needs and guide technology transition strategies from operational prototypes to deployable Fleet capabilities.
• You will provide strategic technical direction to interdisciplinary teams across NUWC, other Warfare Centers, and partner organizations.
• You will oversee the planning and execution of complex cross‑Fleet experimentation, operational assessments, and demonstrations.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E‑Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E‑Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e‑verify.gov.
• Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
• Males born after 12‑31‑59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You will be required to complete ethics orientation within three months of appointment and submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE‑450, within 30 days of appointment.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• This is a Cyberspace Workforce position, work role code 0801 proficiency level Advanced, the incumbent is required to obtain and maintain qualifications in DoDM 8140.03 Cyber Workforce Qualification and Department of Navy policies.
• This position is covered under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA). Certification in the Functional Area and Tier assigned to the position, along with Continuous Learning (CL) points, are required within established timeframes.
• Successful completion of a pre‑employment drug test (including marijuana) is required. A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if you fail to report to the drug test appointment or fail the test. You will be subject to random testing.
• This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.

Qualifications

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. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, your resume must show that you possess the Technical Qualifications (TQ) related to this position – NOT TO EXCEED 2 PAGES. Resumes over the 2-page limit will be disqualified. Your resume should include examples of experience, education, and accomplishments applicable to the qualification(s). If your resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of these qualifications, you may not receive consideration for the position.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs): Your resume should demonstrate accomplishments that would satisfy the technical qualifications:

TQ 1. Experience developing, integrating, and transitioning theater-level undersea warfare (USW) operational and decision-support systems. Technical expertise in theater-scale architectures, operational planning tools, data fusion, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), platform-generated data integration, interface standards, data modeling, and joint/coalition interoperability. Examples may include how your work addressed Fleet, Department of the Navy, Department of War, or allied capability gaps and supported CJADC2, Distributed Maritime Operations, or NAVPLAN priorities.

TQ 2. Experience providing technical direction for distributed operational systems engineering, experimentation, and prototyping. Expertise in integrating operational-level systems with tactical platforms by developing resilient, scalable, and interoperable solutions that enable rapid decision-making and course-of-action development, while leading cross-Fleet or coalition demonstrations, shaping technology-transition strategies, and building the technical workforce, processes, tools, and partnerships required to sustain theater-level USW capabilities.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PROF

AND All Professional Engineering series, 0854/0855 Computer Science Series, 1550

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual:

For 0854/0855 Professional Engineering Series:

A. Degree: Engineering. Successful completion of a bachelor’s or higher engineering degree from an accredited college or university. 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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.

• 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:

(I) Professional registration or licensure — Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board’s eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions; or

(II) Written Test — Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico; or

(III) Specified academic courses — Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A; or

(IV) Related curriculum — Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.)

For 1550 Computer Science Series: A. A degree in computer science orB. Bachelor’s degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre‑accredited institutions.

An advanced degree of Master’s or Ph.D. in one of the educational fields listed above is highly desirable.

Additional information

Senior Scientific Technical Manager (SSTM) positions are positions which exceed the ND‑05 (GS‑15 equivalent). SSTMs provide a continuity of technical leadership and oversight that is needed to ensure long term stewardship of an organization’s technical capabilities. Typically, applicants for SSTM positions are expected to have a graduate degree, significant research or development experience, and a national or international reputation in his/her field and are recognized throughout the applicable community as a renowned expert. SSTM positions are in the competitive service.

This position is not covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre‑employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.

Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How you will be evaluated

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

This recruitment will utilize the following technical assessment tools: Structured Resume Review and Structured Interview.

In order to qualify for this position, you must thoroughly address all Technical Qualifications (TQs) within your two (2) page resume. Separate narrative statements will not be accepted or reviewed. Applicants who fail to clearly demonstrate sufficient possession of the TQs in their resume will be determined ineligible for further consideration.

When the application process is complete, your resume will be reviewed to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement. Your application package will be reviewed by a rating and ranking panel to evaluate your TQs. Qualified candidates will be placed into one of three categories:

• Best Qualified: Candidates demonstrating mastery, possessing exceptional skills and experience that significantly exceeds the minimum requirements.
• Well Qualified: Candidates demonstrating solid, reliable proficiency, possessing strong skills and experience above the minimum requirements.
• Minimally Qualified: Candidates meeting the basic minimum experience requirements for the position.

Generally, only best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager. Sometimes well qualified and minimally qualified candidates are referred.

The technical panel will review results and make a recommendations on final selections to the approving authorities.

If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may be found ineligible/not qualified.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

All qualifications requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Required documents

Required Documents

A complete application includes items described below. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

Please carefully review the following list to determine what documentation you need to submit. Some documents may not apply to all applicants.

RESUME: All applicants are required to submit a resume limited to two (2) pages showing all relevant experience, duties and accomplishments. Applicants must include evidence of the TQs. PLEASE DO NOT USE USAJOBS RESUME BUILDER.

CURRENT FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEE: Must provide a copy of your Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF‑50) or equivalent personnel action form reflecting you are a current Federal Civil Service employee.

You are required to provide documentation that supports the eligibility and qualification claims made in your resume and assessment questionnaire. You must submit the applicable documents listed here and those listed with the eligibilities you select in the announcement questionnaire with your application package. Applicants who do not provide supporting documentation that fully support their claims will not be referred to the hiring manager. Cover letter is optional.

Is there a basic education requirement for this position? Are you using education as a substitute for some or all of the experience requirement? Check the Education section above to see what is allowed and what is required. Any claims you make in your resume or assessment questionnaire regarding education or degrees MUST be supported by submitting with your application official or unofficial transcripts or a list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned issued from your school. While unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application, an official transcript will ultimately be required if you are selected for the position. You may submit a copy your degree(s) if specific coursework does not have to be verified.

Are you claiming membership in any professional organizations, or possession of a license, certificate or credentials? Check the Conditions of Employment section above to see if any are required. If you claim membership, license, certification, or credentials, you must submit a copy of said document in your application package.

Are you a veteran claiming 5-point veterans’ preference or claiming sole survivorship preference? You must submit a copy of your latest DD‑214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (any copy that shows all dates of service, as well as character of service [Honorable, General, etc.] is acceptable) OR a VA letter that shows dates of service or service connected disability AND character of service. If you have more than one DD‑214 for multiple periods of active duty service, submit a copy for each period of service. If you were issued a DD‑215 to amend aforementioned information on the DD‑214 you must submit that too. If you are not sure of your preference eligibility, visit the Department of Labor’s website: Veterans’ Preference Advisor

Are you a disabled veteran or claiming 10-point veterans’ preference? If you are eligible to claim 10 point veterans preference you must submit a DD‑214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty as described above for 5-point preference.

You must also provide the applicable supporting documentation of your disability (e.g. disability letter from the VA) as described on Standard Form‑15 (SF‑15). http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf.

Are you an active duty service member? Active Duty Service Members are required to submit a statement of service printed on command letterhead and signed by the command. The statement of service must provide the branch of service, rate/rank, all dates of service, the expected date of discharge and anticipated character of service (Honorable, General, etc.).

Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents contain personal information such as SSN and DOB and some documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove said personal information before you submit your application. You must provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Agency contact information

Dept of the Navy Executive Hiring

[e-mail]

NAVUNSEAWARCENDIV NEWPORT RI

1176 Howell Street

Newport, RI 02841‑1708

US

Next steps

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Upon submitting your online application, you will receive an automatic email confirming receipt. Once eligibility, qualification and panel review process concludes, a subsequent notification will be sent to update you on your referral status based on eligibility and rating results.

Fair and transparent

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