Clarification from the agency

Current FCC Employees Only

The incumbent has full technical and administrative responsibilities for organizing, planning and directing EDG to provide highly specialized electronic equipment and software for the Bureau's field organization. Responsible for preparing detailed plans for the procurement and/or construction of new equipment and the modification of existing equipment to meet the specific requirements of the field agents. This includes being experience in software writing, using a variety of programming languages such as Pascal, C/C++ and Java. Makes recommendations to the Field Director regarding proposed equipment construction or modification programs necessary to provide the field agents with the technical equipment for the efficient performance of monitoring, investigating, enforcing and other duties. The incumbent instructs personnel in special techniques pertaining to operation of direction finders and other equipment to achieve optimum accuracy and reliability. Prepares comprehensive technical reports and memoranda to keep the Bureau informed of the progress of technical projects. Responsible for ensuring that all equipment constructed by EDG will operate for extended periods under adverse conditions, while satisfying all technical requirements without excessive maintenance.

Conditions of employment

• FCC Employees Only.
• Suitable for employment as determined by a background investigation.
• Current FCC employees must provide SF-50 verifying grade & status.
• Resume must not exceed two pages and must meet resume format criteria.
• Security Clearance Required.
• Drug Testing Required.

In order to be considered for this position, applicants must:

-Currently be employed in the Federal Communications Commission in positions serving under career or career conditional appointments.

ALL FCC EMPLOYEES MUST provide a legible Personnel Action, SF-50, that verifies your status and highest permanently held grade.  If an SF-50 is not submitted, the application will be rated as ineligible. To request a copy of your SF-50 please send an email to PersonnelRecordsRequest@fcc.gov

Qualifications

Interested candidates should be passionate about the ideals of our American republic, committed to upholding the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution, and committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government. Hiring decisions will not be based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.

Applicants must meet eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.  Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.  

Specialized Experience:  Applicants must have a minimum of one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 in the Federal service.  For this position, specialized experience includes the following:    

1. Experience describing, clarifying, and defending technical judgments related to FCC, other government, industry, and internal statutes, rules and regulations regarding radio frequency devices;
2. Experience advising senior managers on issues (technical and economic) related to novel radio frequency technologies;
3. Experience evaluating new technology and applications to identify and resolve operational and sharing problems regarding new and complex uses of the radio spectrum;
4. Experience reviewing, assessing, and advising on the effectiveness, technical adequacy, and suitability of the work and proposals performed by others towards resolving complicated and critical problems;
5. Experience demonstrating ability to communicate ideas, opinions, and technical information clearly, concisely and accurately, both orally and in writing to achieve desired results;
6. Experience making presentations or leads representative groups at meetings with industry, state and federal agencies, international groups and the general public; and
7. Experience leading and/or overseeing Electronics Engineering staff, teams or work performed by Electronics Engineering staff. 

PART-TIME OR UNPAID 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Optional Four Essay Questions

At the time of application, applicants have the option of answering the following four short, free-response essay questions.

1. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.
2. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes.
3. How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.
4. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position.

Applicants will be required to certify that they are using their own words, and did not use a consultant or AI (such as a large language model [LLM]). The responses to each question cannot exceed 200 words per question.

All applicants will be rated on the extent and quality of experience and education relevant to the duties of the position.  An automated score is administered based on the on-line application process used.  Eligible applicants will receive a numerical rating based on their responses to the job specific questions for this position.

There are several parts to the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application including:

1. the core questions
2. the vacancy questions
3. supplemental documentation (e.g., DD-214, SF-50, SF-15, transcripts), if applicable; and
4. your resume.

Applicants will be rated ineligible, if they do not respond to job specific questions provide supplemental documents and submit resume.  For more information, please click on Rating Process

Subject matter experts will review your application to determine if you meet the following required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's):

• Expert knowledge of electronic engineering principles and methodologies and techniques.
• Expert ability to interpret, explain or defend enforcement policies, rules and regulations.
• Expert ability to communicate with a wide range of individuals on many organizational levels.
• Expert ability to develop annual budgets for the purpose of procuring new equipment, maintenance of existing equipment, and other items as needed.

If you are deemed to be qualified by the Subject Matter Experts, your application will be referred to the hiring manager for hiring consideration. Alternatively, if your application is not deemed as qualified by the Subject Matter Experts, your application will not be referred to the hiring manager for hiring consideration.

Merit Hiring Plan Resume Requirements

In compliance with Executive Order 14170, Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service resumes must not be longer than two pages in length. The resume must address minimum qualifications and other requirements listed in the job announcement.

Resumes must include all of the following information outlined below:

Contact Information

Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number.

Relevant Work Experience

• Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions)
• Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 –08/2022)
• The number of hours you worked per week

Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement.

Resumes must be formatted as outlined above. If the two page resume criteria and/or the resume formatting requirement is not met candidates will be rated as ineligible and will not be referred for hiring consideration.

The FCC is providing the following applicant resume resources: 

• Applicant Guidance on the Two-Page Resume Limit
• USAjobs-How to Write a Federal Resume

ALL SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS MUST BE UPLOADED BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.  If applying online poses a hardship, you may contact either the HR Specialist listed on the vacancy announcement or you may contact the Monster Government Solutions help desk (prior to the closing date of the vacancy announcement) via e-mail at mgshelp@monster.com or you may reach them directly at 866-656-6831. The Monster Help Desk is available Monday-Friday 7:00 am to 7:00 pm EST.

Supplement Documents Required: Employees must provide a legible Personnel Action, SF-50, that verifies your status and highest permanently held grade.  If an SF-50 is not submitted, the application will be rated as ineligible.

ALL FCC EMPLOYEES MUST provide a legible Personnel Action, SF-50, that verifies your status and highest permanently held grade.  If an SF-50 is not submitted, the application will be rated as ineligible. To request a copy of your SF-50 please send an email to PersonnelRecordsRequest@fcc.gov

Next steps