General Engineer

National-Oceanic-; Gulfport (MS); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations seeks a qualified engineer for the Uncrewed Systems Operations Center in Gulfport, MS. The role requires meeting OPM standards for education and specialized experience, including evaluating electronic systems and proposing improvements to ensure mission readiness.

Applicants may meet the basic/advanced education requirements via ABET-accredited programs or equivalent combinations, with substitution options and professional licensure considerations

Qualifications

• Basic requirements include ABET-accredited engineering degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Specialized experience equivalent to one grade level; includes testing/evaluation of electronic systems and recommending improvements.

Responsibilities

• Participate in testing or evaluation of electronic systems to review functionality and readiness.
• Recommend improvements or system modifications based on evaluations and operational needs.

Skills

Experience evaluating electronic 

Education

Engineering degree (ABET-accredited)

Professional registration/licensure (EI/EIT/PE)

Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam

Job description

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), Uncrewed Systems (UxS) Operations Center, with 1 vacancy in Gulfport, MS.

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

This position requires applicants to meet a Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package.

You MUST meet one of the following basic education requirements:

To qualify for the 0801 series:

EDUCATION:

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 -- 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.)

Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise.

-AND-

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

To qualify at the ZP-3 or GS-11 level:

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-2 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Participating in the testing or evaluation of electronic systems to review functionality (e.g. system statuses, system controls, system performance, operational readiness, etc.); and
• Recommending improvements or system modifications, or providing advice on the operation of electronic systems.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree.

OR

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. Note: Only graduate-level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower band level may be combined with experience.