Summary
The positions are located in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Safety Systems (DSS) and Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities (DANU).
The positions are in the Bargaining Unit with the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 208 and are not subject to financial disclosure, confidential filing, or to security ownership restriction reporting requirements.
A 25% recruitment incentive may be authorized.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
All NRC Employees are encouraged to apply.
Based on the staffing needs of the agency/area of consideration, additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement.
Duties
As a Nuclear Engineer in NRR’s Division of Advanced Reactors, Non-Power Production, and Utilization Facilities or Division of Safety Systems, you will be responsible for the following pertaining to reactor core or fuel design, nuclear methods, reactor systems and evaluations of operating performance for operating or new light-water or non-light-water power or non-power production or utilization facility applications:
1) performing and supporting reviews and evaluations of the reactor core, fuel and thermal-hydraulic systems design, process design parameters, nuclear methods, and performance,
2) supporting the resolution of complex technical issues and licensing problems,
3) providing in-depth technical assistance and authoritative advice relating to the safety aspects of the reactor core and systems design,
4) performing complex reviews and evaluations of nuclear and thermal-hydraulic aspects of the reactor core under steady-state, transient, and accident conditions, including issues pertaining to core physics, fuel behavior, and reactivity control system and control rod design,
5) performing reactor systems analyses using advanced computer simulation for licensing reviews, including independent calculations and engineering analyses to confirm or verify the applicants' or licensees' predictions of systems and component performance, including fuel and core performance, under postulated transient and accident conditions,
6) reviewing and evaluating technical policy issues related to reactor systems methodologies and requirements for proposed designs; and
7) preparing safety evaluations (SEs), audit reports, and other documentation and presenting the results to internal and external stakeholders (e.g., NRC Commission, NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, international regulatory counterparts, industry and non-governmental organization representatives, the public).
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- U.S. Citizenship Required
- This is a Drug Testing position.
- Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires
You must meet the qualifications for this position by no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.
Qualifications
In order to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.
The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:
1. Demonstrated capacity to apply the theories, principles, and practices in the field of reactor core, fuel and thermal-hydraulic systems design and nuclear methods sufficient to perform complex reviews and evaluations of nuclear and thermal-hydraulic aspects of the reactor core under steady-state, transient, and accident conditions, including issues pertaining to core physics, fuel behavior, and reactivity control system and control rod design for operating or new light-water or non-light-water power or non-power reactor or nuclear fuel designs. (DOUBLE WEIGHTED) Describe specific experience, education, and training that demonstrate your ability to apply your knowledge related to reactor core, fuel and thermal-hydraulic systems design and nuclear methods for operating or new light-water or non-light-water power or non-power reactors or nuclear fuel designs. Include examples relative to both thermal hydraulic and reactivity phenomena under steady-state, transient and accident conditions for licensing basis events and issues related to qualification of nuclear fuel designs. Highlight experience in performing computer-assisted analyses in the area of nuclear fuel, reactor thermal-hydraulics and/or core physics for licensing basis event analysis.
2. Demonstrated ability in formulating sound technical judgements, making technical or policy recommendations, and finding solutions to unique first of a kind technical or policy challenges regarding issues pertaining to event evaluation in the areas of core physics, fuel behavior, reactivity control system and control rod design, and core thermal-hydraulic performance. Describe education, training and experience that demonstrate your ability to formulate technical judgments. Provide examples of judgments, recommendations, or actions you have taken regarding unique first of a kind technical or policy issues pertaining to core physics, fuel behavior, reactivity control system and core thermal-hydraulic performance. Describe your ability to identify complex issues and recommend successful approaches for resolution for areas representing a departure from past precedent, or in the absence of applicable guidance. Highlight examples that demonstrate resourcefulness, initiative, and ingenuity in reaching work objectives. Include specific examples that describe the complexity of the work, and your ability to organize, prioritize and accomplish work such as reactor systems reviews, or authorship of technical or policy papers.
3. Demonstrated knowledge of rules, regulations, and policies pertaining to light-water or non-light-water power or non-power production or utilization facilities through familiarity with advanced reactor vison, strategy, and policy activities, reactor licensing regulations, passive reactor design policies, system design standards, and regulatory guides and practices. Describe specific experience, training, and accomplishments that demonstrate your familiarity with NRC rules, regulations, and policies pertaining to light-water and non-light-water power or non-power production or utilization facilities. Include several technical work examples and describe the complexity of the issues.
4. Demonstrated ability to communicate information, ideas, and advice in a clear, concise, and logical manner, both orally and in writing. Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with management and staff, colleagues, and representatives of external organizations. Describe education, training, and experience which demonstrate your ability to present information, ideas, and advice in a clear, concise, and logical manner both orally and in writing. Describe your ability to deal effectively with various levels of staff, to coordinate and prepare documents using various inputs. Describe the various types and levels of individuals you routinely interact with and for what purposes. What types of original writing do you generate? With whom do you communicate orally and for what purpose? What types of working relationships have you made, with whom, and how frequently? Include examples of situations where it was necessary for you to use tact, diplomacy, and negotiation skills to achieve cooperation or consensus when interacting with staff, management, or the general public.
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as: experience technically and analytically reviewing, numerically modeling or evaluating design, operation, or performance of the reactor core, fuel designs, or reactor systems for nuclear reactors. A description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate should be addressed in your resume.
Education
Qualification for All Professional Engineering 0800 Series:
Basic Requirements:
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.)
More detailed information about these alternatives are described in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Qualification Standards Operating Manual which may be accessed at the following website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/nuclear-engineering-series-0840/
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
As an NRC employee you will enjoy excellent Federal Benefits, including: comprehensive health and life insurance plans; Flexible Spending Account Program for health and dependent care; Dental and Vision Insurance; retirement savings and investment plan similar to 401(k) (Thrift Savings Plan); annual (vacation) and paid sick leave; family friendly leave policies; 11 paid holidays per year; transit benefits. This link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal employees. https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Pay_and_Benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
When the application process is complete, your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the job requirements. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and responses to any vacancy questions to determine your level of knowledge, skill and ability related to the job requirements. If you are among the top candidates for this position, your application will be referred to the hiring manager.
Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to submit a thorough resume that directly relates to this position. You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Required Documents
List of supplemental material that may be applicable:
If you are an NRC employee, you are required to submit your most recent Rating of Record (Performance Appraisal) or a statement saying that one is not available. Additionally, you must also submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action).
If you are a current/reinstatement eligible Federal employee with status (Tenure Group 1 or 2), you will be considered under our merit promotion procedures and must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) to verify competitive status or reinstatement eligibility.
Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.) You can find additional information about Veterans' Preference at http://www.fedshirevets.gov/.
If you are applying for a position that requires a college degree, you must submit your College Transcripts.
All supplemental documents will now be collected electronically and should be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. You have three choices for submitting your supplemental documents:
1. Use the "USAJOBS" feature to download documents from your USAJOBS portfolio; or
2. use the "Upload" feature to upload documents directly from your computer. The following types of documents can be uploaded: .gif, .jpeg, .png, .rtf, .pdf, and .doc; or
3. use the "Fax" feature to print the Fax Cover Sheet and fax it, along with your supplemental documents to 1-571-258-4052.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
We strongly encourage you to complete your USAJOBS profile before you submit your application for this position.
Please read the entire announcement. Your application for this vacancy must be received online via the USAJOBS application system BEFORE 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to submit a complete online application, you will not be considered for this position.
The NRC requires that applicants submit resumes built using the USAJOBS Resume Builder tool. The Resume Builder tool is activated upon selecting "Build New Resume" under the "Resumes" section of your USAJOBS account.
Resumes uploaded to your USAJOBS jobseeker account that have not been built using the USAJOBS Resume Builder tool WILL NOT be accepted and you WILL NOT be allowed to further advance through the NRC application process.
To ensure you are using the correct resume type when applying to our vacancies, please make sure that the resume you are using during the application process is listed with a format type of "USAJOBS Resume" and a source type of "Built with USAJOBS Resume Builder. Verifying this information on your USAJOBS resume before applying will ensure the successful submission of your application to the NRC job vacancy.
Paper applications will not be accepted unless hardship circumstances can be demonstrated. Requests for extensions WILL NOT be granted. If applying online poses a hardship for you, the Human Resources Specialist listed on the announcement will provide assistance to ensure that applications are submitted online by the closing date. Applicants must contact the Human Resources Specialist during business hours BEFORE the closing date of the announcement and speak to someone who can provide assistance for your online submission.
You must answer any job specific vacancy questions. You will be rated based on your responses to any vacancy questions and especially the information provided in your resume. Breadth, recency, and length of experience in the field; training, awards, and commendations; past and current performance; and community or outside professional activities will be considered to determine your level of knowledge, skill or ability for this position. Abbreviated responses to the vacancy questions, such as “significant experience” or “see resume” do not provide enough information and should not be used. You will not be considered for this position if you leave any of the vacancy questions unanswered.
To begin the application process, select the "Apply On-line" button to the right on this screen. Then follow the prompts to login/register, submit all required supplemental documents, and complete the application process.
Next steps
- You may check the status of your application at any time after the announcement closes by logging onto USAJOBs and selecting "Application Status."
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