Clarification from the agency

This Merit Promotion position is open to Current Federal Employees and Former Federal Employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility. Individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority may also apply such as Individuals with Disabilities (Schedule A), former Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Vista volunteers; certain Military Spouses, or individuals eligible under various programs for Veterans (VRA, VEOA, 30% disabled).

The Electronics Technician (Fire Alarm Systems),will serve under the general supervision of the Life Safety Group Supervisor and play a crucial role in maintaining and ensuring the functionality of critical fire safety systems, both modern and older, within the specified guidelines and technical parameters.

In this position, you will:

• Determine the impact of equipment modifications or substitutions on total system operation and on 
  various maintenance and alignment procedures, based upon studying technical data and specifications.
• Inspect and correct deficiencies on a variety of fire dampers, fire detection and fire suppression 
  systems, many of which are complex and/or designed for specific operations and hazards.
• Perform required repairs per manufacturer's specifications and industry standards.
• Prepare normal performance test reports including analysis of results and maintain complete records of field tests and reports their findings to the lead technician.
• Provide input for planning and estimating costs of projected work assignments, perform basic design reviews.

Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website.

Qualifications

Experience:

For the GS-11, you qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as installation, inspection, testing and making repairs to fire alarm systems, sprinkler systems and dampers for smoke control. The applicant also needs to display leadership capabilities showing the necessary skill set to supervise subordinate technicians to complete a task. The listed level of experience should also include programming of fire alarm systems including adding devices and creating functions to perform various output sequences. The applicant also must possess at least a NICET level 2 in fire alarm systems.

For the GS-12, you qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as installation, inspection, testing and making repairs to fire alarm systems, sprinkler systems and dampers for smoke control. The applicant also needs to display leadership capabilities showing the necessary skill set to independently supervise subordinate technicians to complete a task. The listed level of experience should also include programming of fire alarm systems including adding devices and creating functions to perform various output sequences. The applicant also must possess at least a NICET level 3 in fire alarm systems and hold at least one other certification in either Water Based Testing or Special Hazard Systems.

Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsiblities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual 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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above.  The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge to analyze existing and proposed fire dampers, fire detection and fire suppression systems, operational requirements and operating procedures in order to access impacts of change proposal as these affect the systems capabilities.
• Knowledge of mechanical, electrical and plumbing theories, principles, practices and relationships to fire protection and other building systems as to provide definitive guidance in relation to fire detection & fire supression aspects of each discipline.
• Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively in written means, on matters concerning fire protection systems in regard to plan reviews, training aids, testing of system applications, and other complex technical issues.

BASIS OF RATING:  Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the Human Resources Specialist reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA):  If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities:  The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:

• Primary Appointing Authorities for Career and Career-Conditional Appointments
• Hiring Authorities for Veterans
• People with Disabilities

Important Note:

Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Your application package should include the following documents:

• Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position.

  For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.
  

• Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, “Notice of Personnel Action,” that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level.  Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions.  NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50’s on their own. You may need to provide more than one SF-50. 

  Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).
• Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
• Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.
• Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA
• Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration.
• Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order.
• Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here.

Next steps