Supervisory Physical Scientist (Environmental)

Bonneville Power Administration; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Bonneville Power Administration seeks a Supervisory Physical Scientist (Environmental) to lead environmental programs across the transmission system in the EPS/EP/ Environment, Fish & Wildlife organizations. The role emphasizes leadership, regulatory compliance, NEPA coordination, and cross-divisional collaboration.

The position requires directing environmental reviews, ensuring timely regulatory adherence, and guiding teams through planning, permitting, and monitoring of projects from design to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics with 24 semester hours in physical science or related engineering.
• Alternate combination of education and experience meeting the 24 semester hours requirement and equivalent experience.
• Time-in-Grade and CTAP considerations apply for eligible Federal employees.

Responsibilities

• Provide direction and leadership in planning, development, and administration of programs and work processes.
• Address compliance with local, state, and federal requirements in a cost-effective, mission-aligned manner.
• Lead environmental review, permitting, mitigation, restoration, and monitoring for transmission facilities.
• Plan work, set priorities, and prepare schedules for subordinates.
• Assign tasks based on priorities and employee capabilities.
• Serve as liaison with BPA managers and staff across divisions.
• Participate in meetings, inspections, hearings, and presentations on environmental matters.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory compliance

Environmental programs

Coordination with agencies

Project planning / oversight

NEPA / environmental reviews

Communication / liaison

Education

Physical science, engineering, or mathematics degree with 24 semester hours

Education/experience combination meeting 24 semester hours requirement

Job description

Summary

This position is located with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in Technical Services (EPS) organization, within the Pollution Prevention & Abatement (EP) organization, Environment, Fish & Wildlife Organization (E). A successful candidate in this position will provide direction and leadership in the planning, development, and administration of programs, systems, and work processes which are necessary to perform the critical mission and support activities required of the EPS organization.

Duties

As a Supervisory Physical Scientist (Environmental), you will:

• Address compliance with local, state, and federal statutory and regulatory requirements in a manner that is both cost-effective and consistent with Bonneville's mission activities for the transmission and sale of electrical power.
• Serve as an official within and outside the agency for integrating the implementation of environmental compliance, permitting, mitigation, restoration and monitoring requirements for new transmission facilities, rebuilds, and facility expansions from the planning/design phases through construction and facility maintenance.
• Provide leadership and oversight to support Bonneville's transmission capital and expense project teams by ensuring timely environmental review, clearance, compliance, and effective implementation of applicable U.S. environmental laws and policies across substations and rights-of-way within Bonneville's transmission system.
• Plan work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts short-term priorities, and prepares schedules for completion of work.
• Assign work to subordinates based on priorities, selective consideration of the difficulty and requirements of assignments, and the capabilities of employees.
• Serve as a liaison and coordination point for EP, working directly with managers and staff at various levels within BPA, including the Transmission Business Line and tier II management teams within the Supply Chain and Workplace Services organizations.
• Participate in meetings, inspections, hearings or presentations involving cleanups, environmental investigations and environmental compliance undertakings and assures organizational decisions and actions conform to regulatory requirements as well as BPA and Environment, Fish and Wildlife policy.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

Temporary Promotion (BPA-Only): This is a temporary promotion, not to exceed one (1) year, may be extended up to five (5) year's total; may be made permanent without further competition. Upon termination of the promotion, you will be returned to your original position of record, or to a different position of equivalent grade and pay. Temporary promotions may be terminated at any time based on the needs of management.

If you are currently employed at a grade equivalent to, or higher than the advertised position, the action will be considered a detail for processing purposes, and no salary increase will be associated with accepting the position. Details are processed in 120-day increments and may be extended up to two (2) year's total; additional extensions may be approved at the discretion of the Human Resources Service Center Director. Upon termination of the detail, you will be returned to your original position of record. Details may be terminated at any time based on needs of management.

Key Requirements:

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• You will be required to report in person to the official duty location.

Conditions of Employment:

• Selectee will be required to complete the Office of Government Ethics Standard of Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OFGE450e) within 30 days of employment and annually.
• This position requires a valid driver's license as a condition of employment.
• First time supervisors will be required to serve a 1 year probationary period.
• After employment, this position may be subject to periodic physical examinations, as prescribed by competent medical authority and at BPA expense, if exposed to health hazards.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

1. 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

2. 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.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

A qualified candidate's resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-13) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as experience 1) providing leadership and technical guidance to peers in order to implement environmental solutions; 2) leading environmental programs such as hazardous waste management or NEPA reviews to ensure compliance with federal, state, and/or local regulatory requirements regarding pollution prevention, abatement, or environmental laws; and, 3) coordinating with officials of associated partners (e.g. Federal agencies, state environmental agencies, tribes, and public land-owners, etc.) to accomplish transmission activities.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-14 grade level.

Time-in-Grade: Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement to receive consideration.

CTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

This vacancy has a positive education requirement. In order to be rated as qualified, you must provide copies of your college transcripts. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Department of Education Accreditation Search to verify school accreditation. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system. Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".

Additional information

• This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE

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