Physical Scientist

US Geological Survey; California; On-site; USD 112,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

US Geological Survey in the Earthquake Science Center leads the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning system. The position requires 24/7 on-call duty rotations, including nights and weekends, with location options in CA and WA. First-time federal hires start at Step 1.

Qualifications include a 4-year degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics and relevant professional experience to qualify for GS-12 level. Applicants must meet all requirements by 11/02/2026.

Qualifications

• Degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics with transcripts.
• One year of professional experience equivalent to GS-11 level.
• Experience communicating about natural hazards and emergency management protocols.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Physical Scientist for ShakeAlert EEW program.
• Participate in 24/7 on-call duty rotations (7 days at a time, nights and weekends).

Skills

Earth science research

Emergency response

Stakeholder engagement

Scientific communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics

Job description

You will serve as a Physical Scientist with United States Geological Survey in the Earthquake Science Center for the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system.

Participation in 24/7 on-call duty response rotations is required. On call for 7 days at a time, including nights and weekends.

Salary
Moffett Field, CA: $111,896 (Step 01) to $145,468 (Step 10)
Seattle, WA: $100,602 (Step 01) to $130,786 (Step 10)
First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-11/02/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirement AND/OR Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

• A. Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must submit transcripts.

-OR-

• B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Education equivalent to one of the majors shown in "A" above (24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science, engineering, or mathematics) that included at least 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science as described above, plus appropriate experience and/or additional education for a total of 4 years. The education or combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in "A" above.

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level:

In addition to meeting the educational requirements above, your resume must clearly reflect ALL of the experience listed below. You must be clear and concise in describing your experience - HR will not make assumptions.

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-12 level: One year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service, and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

Examples of such experience may include: (1) Conducting or participating in independent or team-based research in social, physical, or Earth science that utilizes scientific methods to investigate human behavior or natural phenomena in a laboratory or field environment; (2) Planning, expanding, and executing targeted community engagement campaigns and building networks within a team based context; (3) Experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) teaching in formal learning environments such as a K-12 school, college, university, or in a free-choice learning environment such as a museum or park visitor center is also qualifying; (4) Experience communicating about natural hazards (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) preparedness, mitigation, planning, response, and recovery; (5) Experience with emergency management protocols, procedures, and structures may also be qualifying.

This work typically involves the development of new education and training initiatives, grounded in social and physical/Earth science, that optimize collaboration and use a cross-disciplinary approach.

At this level, physical scientists have the ability to independently perform complex work in research and operational environments that requires stakeholder engagement using sound governance processes and decision-making protocols which ensure accountability and operational consistency while allowing for the free exchange of information and ideas.

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Volunteer Experience: 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.