Supervisory Helicopter Pilot

Clarification from the agency

This position is only open to current Western Area Power Administration employees on a career or career-conditional competitive service appointment.

As a Supervisory Helicopter Pilot, you will

• Serves as the senior technical aviation expert, manages and evaluates WAPA's flight operations, and ensures strict compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) and internal aviation policy manuals.
• Acts as the helicopter Chief Instructor Pilot, which involves directing aircraft flight training, managing the formal Pilot-in-Command (PIC) flight training program, and administering initial and recurrent pilot proficiency check-rides.
• Serves as the primary Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) to oversee and manage WAPA's centralized aviation maintenance contracts and ensure the fleet is maintained in accordance with FAA regulations.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
• May be required to complete a one-year Supervisory probation period.
• Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.
• In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration.
• Security clearance and associated requirements - Moderate Risk
• Total salary varies depending on location of position.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate's 2-pg resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-13). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting ALL of the following:

• Develop and implement agency-wide aviation policies
• Provide technical assistance and guidance on matters relating to aviation safety and compliance with directives and regulations.
• Display communication skills required to interface between maintenance groups, construction organizations, dispatchers, and/or external aviation contractors.
• Comply with Department of Energy (DOE) Orders, and programmatic manuals including Flight Operations (FOM) and Helicopter External Load Manuals.
• Conduct FAR Part 135 competency and line checks.
• Oversee centralized aircraft maintenance contracts, ensuring that maintenance facilities and personnel comply with FAA regulations (FAR Parts 43, 65, and 91), manufacturer recommendations, and component inspector criteria.

Time-in-Grade: Current career or career-conditional GS employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional GS employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current career or career-conditional federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.

Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information:

• Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job)
• Duties (be specific in describing your duties, we cannot make assumptions regarding your experience)
• Employer's name and address
• Start and end dates including month, date and year (e.g. June 20, 2007 to April 18, 2008)
• Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position.
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

• Technical Credibility
• Attention to Detail
• Decisiveness
• Reasoning
• Accountability
• Integrity/Honesty
• Problem Solving
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Strategic Thinking
• Compliance

All qualified and eligible applicants will be referred to the hiring office for consideration.

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: This program applies to Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed, or employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP; 2) be rated in the well-qualified category for this vacancy with a score of 85 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility. For information on eligibility criteria and required documentation, go to: Career Transition (opm.gov)

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible' or 'not qualified'.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (10/07/2026) of this announcement.

Shared Certificates: The Department of Energy shares lists of applicants among its internal Departmental Elements and organizations. You may be referred for consideration to other DOE Hiring Managers throughout the Department for more than one position based on this application. By applying to this announcement, you understand your application materials may be shared with multiple Hiring Mangers throughout DOE. If additional positions are filled from this announcement conditions of employment may differ. You will be notified if you are referred for additional positions.

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes:

• Your two (2) page RESUMEshowing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
• Current Federal employees: Most recent non-award SF-50 (Standard Form 50 - Notice of Personnel Action). To properly verify status eligibility, your SF-50 must show the following. If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility.
  • Full position title;
  • appointment type;
  • occupational series;
  • pay plan, grade, and step;
  • tenure code; and
  • service computation date (SCD).
  • If your current position SF50 does not indicate you have competitive service status or does not reflect the pay plan and grade of the highest position you have held in the competitive service, in addition to your current SF50, you must provide your previous SF-50s that provide the proof of competitive status and highest grade held on a permanent basis. . If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility.

If applicable:

• Veterans: DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter. For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information.
• Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable(e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.) For more information see the OPM Guide to Career Transition.

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Next steps

Additional locations