Health Physicist

You will serve as a Health Physicist with the Office of Management Services, Occupational Health and Safety Branch. This position serves as the Bureau Health Physicist and executes the Radiation Safety Program. Some of your specific duties will include:

• Applies expert knowledge, experience, and skill in the position of USGS Health Physicist and USGS Radiation Safety Officer.
• Leads, develops, and implements the USGS Bureau Radiation Safety Program which includes but is not limited to all radioactive materials, licenses, and ionizing radiation producing equipment.
• Serves as the Executive Secretary for the Radiation Safety Committee and schedules meetings, provides information to the Committee, assists in the Committee's function, and is the liaison between scientists and the Committee.
• Conducts, reviews, and offers guidance and procedures for radiological exposure assessments; audits, inspections, assistance visits, and program evaluations; and analyzing a variety of doses and types of radiological hazards.
• Implement the requirements of the broad scope license, special nuclear material, and generally licensed materials and devices.

Physical Demands: Work is performed in an office environment, a radiation analytical lab, field installations, and during visits to science centers, other research labs, offices, and field installations. Some of the work requires strenuous physical exertion, such as climbing ladders and carrying heavy equipment, and moving lead shielding. Travel to science centers, offices and field installations is required and involves a considerable amount of walking, climbing, and other forms of physical exertion associated with program evaluation activities.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office setting, a radiation analytical lab, field installations, and during visits to science centers, other research labs, offices, and field installations, and during visits to science centers, other research labs, offices and field installations. Work may require strenuous activity and will have exposure to various types of safety and health hazards such as, but not limited to, ionizing radiation, high voltage, and chemical hazards. Use of respirators, earmuffs, safety glasses, gloves, full-body Tyvek suits, and other forms of personal protective gear may occur on a frequent basis.

Conditions of Employment for this Position:
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Conditions of employment

Key Requirements:

1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
4. Selectee must provide a valid state driver's license & safe driving record.
5. Selectee subject to successful completion of a pre-employment medical exam.
6. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?

• Taking and passing a pre-employment medical examination at Federal expense is required due to the physical demands of this job.
• You will be required to operate a government-owned or -leased vehicle in the performance of your official duties. Applicants for this position must meet the following requirements: (1) possess a valid State license, and (2) possess a safe driving record. If selected, you will be required to provide proof of a valid State license & a copy of your driving record.
• Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued.
• A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Health Physicist, all grade levels.
A. 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 natural science or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus.
**OR
B. A combination of education and experience-- courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or other education; or certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to that described in paragraph A.

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-13 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-12 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 is defined as: experience that demonstrates experience in the technical aspects of radiation safety programs and policies and inspections that require work with radiological safety technology, including radiation physics and dosimetry, with particular emphasis on the use of ionizing radiation in science and industry. Candidates should also have recent experience associated with a regulatory program focused on safety.

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

How you will be evaluated

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

--Resume Length: Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

--Basis of Rating: Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the result of the assessment required for this position. Your responses must be substantiated by your resume. If you do not respond to the application questions you may be rated ineligible.

--Resume Review Assessment Required: If you meet the eligibility and basic qualification requirements for this position subject-matter-experts will perform a structured review of your resume to evaluate your knowledge, skills, abilities, and competences as they directly relate to the duties of this position.

--NOTE: If it is determined that you have rated yourself higher than is supported in your description of experience and/or education as described in your resume/application, or that your resume or application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible, not qualified, or your score may be lowered.

Required documents may be: (1) uploaded directly from your desktop; or (2) uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments.

Resume

--Resumes are required and will be limited to no more than 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. You are highly encouraged to use USAJOBS Resume Builder to ensure all required information is included in your Resume. If you use your own resume, curriculum vitae, or other written form, then you must describe your job-related qualifications, including: beginning and ending dates for paid and non-paid work experience; hours worked per week; month and year of employment for each job title listed; annual salary; and description of job duties. Include name and address of employer; supervisor name; and telephone number. Additional information on what to include can be found here.

Supporting documents

--Upload any supporting documents identified in the Key Requirements section or included below as it applies to your eligibility. Supporting documents may be: (1) uploaded directly from your desktop; or (2) uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments

Transcripts

--If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.), which includes semester hours earned and grade received, by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) & Inter-agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Eligibles

--If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, the Servicing Human Resources Office must receive proof by the closing date of this announcement that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330 Subpart F for CTAP and 5 CFR 330 Subpart G for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. This includes:

• copy of the agency notice;
• your most recent Performance Rating; and
• your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

If you are a CTAP or ICTAP eligible, you will be considered well qualified if you earn a minimum score of 85 (prior to the assignment of veteran's preference points). For more information on CTAP/ICTAP please click here.

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