Location Based Services Lead

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

NIST in Boulder, CO seeks a Location-Based Services Lead to direct R&D in indoor LBS and PNT technologies for public safety communications. The role guides mapping, positioning, tracking, and navigation for first responders and develops lab-based solutions and technical requirements.

You will collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams in mission-critical services, AI, and UAS, delivering findings and recommendations to advance standards and program planning for first responder technologies.

Qualifications

• Interdisciplinary position across electronics engineering and physical sciences.
• Specialized experience in Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies.
• Experience with indoor mapping, localization, and tracking is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead research into indoor mapping, tracking, and navigation for first responders.
• Design and implement lab-based solutions; develop technical requirements to evaluate PNT technologies.
• Advance research on navigation and localization approaches.
• Collaborate with adjacent teams across mission-critical services, AI, and UAS areas.
• Produce technical findings and recommendations for program planning and standards development.

Job description

Summary

NIST is seeking a Location-Based Services Lead to direct advanced research and development involving indoor Location-Based Services (LBS) and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies for public safety communications. The position leads research supporting indoor mapping, positioning, tracking, and navigation for first responders. This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

In this position, you will:

• Independently, and in coordination with a research team, conduct and lead research into indoor mapping, tracking, and navigation for the benefit of first responders.
• Manage the design and implementation of lab-based solutions and develop technical requirements to evaluate Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies.
• Conduct advanced research to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to navigation, localization, and location-based technologies.
• Collaborate with adjacent research teams in cross-cutting efforts spanning the technical areas of mission critical services, user experience, artificial intelligence, and uncrewed aircraft systems.
• Develop technical findings, recommendations, and other deliverables that contribute to program planning, standards development, and advancements in technologies supporting the first responder community.

Qualifications

This is an interdisciplinary position that can be covered by the following Occupational Series: 0855 and 1301. BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING: 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 nd 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)1, 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)2 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.) BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE: 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 In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must possess 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level (ZP-III at NIST). Specialized experience is defined as experience performing research, development, testing, analysis, or implementation activities related to Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies, such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), navigation and localization systems, indoor positioning and tracking technologies, or the analysis of navigation or location-based data. 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. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration