Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) sets the definitive U.S. standards for nearly every kind of measurement employed in commerce and research, sometimes across more than 20 orders of magnitude. This position is in PML's Quantum Sensors Division, whose mission is to provide the metrological foundation for emerging electronic, magnetic, and photonic technologies by developing high-precision measurement devices, systems, standards, and methodologies and applying them to address national needs.

If you are hired as a Quantum Mechanical Engineer for this division, you will:

• Provide scientific, administrative, and safety leadership for the Cryogenic Technologies Project within the Quantum Sensors Division.
• Recruit and work with students, scientists, and engineers to pursue project goals consistent with available funding levels.
• Conduct research on cryocoolers to:
  • reach the few-kelvin temperature regime
  • improve understanding of fundamental cryocooler behavior, and
  • identify and realize opportunities to improve cryocooler efficiency and other performance metrics such as size, weight, and power.
• Support U.S. industrial activity in cryogenics through technology demonstrations, standards development, the production of reference data, and other activities.
• Identify and realize opportunities to improve the cryogenics infrastructure of the Quantum Sensors Division, the Physical Measurement Laboratory, and NIST.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. citizenship
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
• Suitable for Federal employment
• Bargaining Unit Position: No

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

• A. Degree in Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:
  • Lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; OR
  • 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:
    • (1) statics, dynamics;
    • (2) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships);
    • (3) fluid mechanics, hydraulics;
    • (4) thermodynamics;
    • (5) electrical fields and circuits;
    • (6) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and
    • (7) 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:
    • Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), 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.
    • Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.)

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:

In addition to the basic requirements listed above, applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-12 level (ZP-III at NIST). Specialized experience is defined as:

• Experience with cryogenic experimental techniques, including the design and construction of cryostats, cryogenic refrigerators, and sensors for cryogenic measurements.
• Experience with the measurement of key physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, and flow at cryogenic temperatures.
• Experience with cryogenic cooling cycles using thermodynamics and thermoacoustics, including the ability to simulate cryocooler behavior using software packages such as Sage, REGEN, and DeltaEC.

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.

The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook.

If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration

How you will be evaluated

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

Please prepare a resume that is no longer than two pages; only the first two pages will be considered during the review process. Ensure your font is 11 points or larger and upload your resume as a .pdf document. This helps ensure your formatting looks exactly the way you intended.

How you will be evaluated: You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. Once the announcement has closed, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed in this announcement. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

A Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) may be used to review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume.

Referral: All applicants may be referred to the selecting official for consideration. Under Direct Hire Authority, applicants are not rated and ranked, and veteran preference does not apply.

CTAP or ICTAP eligibility: If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must be determined eligible and rated as well-qualified to receive special selection priority. "Well Qualified" means that in addition to meeting the minimum qualification requirements and selective placement factor(s), if applicable, you must receive a score of 85 or higher. Please review the following site regarding required documents to support CTAP or ICTAP eligibility and additional information regarding this authority - Section 8: Hiring Paths at NIST | NIST

The documents required may vary based on how you're applying (i.e., as a veteran or disabled veteran, current or former Federal employee, etc.). Please review the Required Documents for this position to find out if there are any documents required with your application. Failure to submit required documents, based upon how you apply, may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package.

A complete application includes: 1) A resume (not to exceed two pages), 2) vacancy question responses regarding technical qualifications, and 3) submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, or if the documents submitted are illegible you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

Resume: All applicants must submit a resume by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their choosing. Please prepare a resume no longer than 2 pages; only the first 2 pages will be considered during the review process. Ensure your font is 11 points or larger and upload your resume as a .pdf document. This helps ensure your formatting looks exactly the way you intended.? Cover letters are optional. To receive any credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and the number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest you review the qualification requirements for this position as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports the position qualifications. Please refer to the Resume Guidance on how to build an effective resume.

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