NUCLEAR ENGINEER

United States Fleet Forces Command; Kittery (ME); On-site; USD 121,000 - 157,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Fleet Forces Command seeks a Nuclear Engineer within the Head Nuclear Engineer Division (2320) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. This temporary position, not to exceed one year, may become permanent without further competition.

You will lead technical direction for naval nuclear propulsion analyses and reports, with stringent engineering standards. Applicants must meet ABET-based education requirements and professional licensure pathways, including FE/PE/EI or related credentials.

Qualifications

• Engineering degree meeting ABET criteria.
• Professional licensure or EI/EIT or PE eligibility.
• Successful completion of FE exam or equivalent licensure steps.
• Curriculum including core engineering science topics (math, physics, engineering basics).

Responsibilities

• Provide authoritative technical direction and oversight for complex engineering calculations, analyses, and reports on naval nuclear propulsion systems.
• Review and approve critical engineering work in the Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department.

Skills

Engineering calculations

Technical direction

Regulatory compliance

Education

ABET-accredited engineering program

FE exam / engineering licensure

Professional Engineer licensure (PE)

EI/EIT eligibility

Job description

• Hiring Agency: United States Fleet Forces Command

You will serve as a NUCLEAR ENGINEER in the HEAD NUCLEAR ENGINEER DIVISION (2320), NUCLEAR ENGINEERING and PLANNING DEPARTMENT of PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD. ***TEMPORARY POSTION NOT TO EXCEED 1 YEAR AND MAY BECOME PERMANENT WITHOUT FURTHER COMPETITION. ***

Key Responsibilities

You will provide authoritative technical direction and oversight in the development, review, and approval of the most complex and critical engineering calculations, analyses, and reports pertaining to naval nuclear propulsion plant systems.

Requirements & Education

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess: Basic Requirements for Nuclear Engineering Series 0840: 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)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.) 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.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with United States Fleet Forces Command, Department of the Navy.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $120548 – $156715/yr.

What security clearance is required?

This position requires a Secret security clearance.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-01.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Transition' hiring path.