This position is part of the National Weather Service (NWS), Pacific Region (PR), Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers (PTWC), National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC), with two vacancies in each listed location.
Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the 1301 series: EDUCATION: A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -AND- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. To qualify at the GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assessing data used in the development of warnings or advisories for severe weather events or tsunamis; Utilizing or modifying scientific software or programs to support the analysis or communication of severe weather events or tsunamis. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. Note: Only graduate-level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. To qualify at the GS-12 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Investigating weather-related data in order to recommend different approaches to increase the accuracy of warnings or advisories for severe weatherevents or tsunamis; Improving scientific computer programs to support data analysis or communication of severe weather events or tsunamis; and Coordinating the evaluating of products, websites or social media sites for information sharing or outreach. To qualify at the GS-13 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Developing new approaches to enhance the accuracy of warnings and advisories for severe weather events or tsunamis; Developing operational computer programs or interfaces to provide data for severe weather events or tsunamis; and Collaborating with partners to develop products, websites and social media sites for information sharing and outreach.
As a Physical Scientist, you will perform the following duties: The working title for this position is Duty Scientist. Serve on a rotational basis as an on-duty scientist as part of a tsunami investigation team that responds to earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and other physical phenomena on a 24x7 basis. Rapidly analyze and characterize these events for their tsunamigenic potential, and issue appropriate alerting products including tsunami warnings to core partners and the public, in order to save lives and protect property. Serve as a technical expert in the procedures and multidisciplinary science behind tsunami warning operations. As a technical expert and subject matter expert, provide technical advice to other agency scientists and high-level officials. Conduct investigations into tsunami-related phenomena that may require development of new techniques. Establish requirements, plans, experiments, standards, and participate in the development of scientific tools used for tsunami warning. Maintain relationships and communicate with local, state, national and international government officials, emergency managers, the media, the public, and other stakeholders, both during and between tsunami events. Develop and write technical portions of agency guidelines that may affect other agencies or core partners. Write reports and position papers on subjects which may generate controversy. Serve as an expert technical representative on panels, committees, and conferences, etc., providing expertise to scientific development projects that may impact internal and external organizations. Participate in the development of trainings and guidelines. Provide training to other duty scientists to keep them up-to-date and competent on multidisciplinary tsunami science principles and operational components. Conduct or assist with training for national and international partners about the tsunami phenomenon, inclusive of both geophysical and oceanographic aspects, threat, tools, and system capabilities. Perform administrative and other projects as the need arises under the direction of management. Support the Operations Lead Duty Scientist when directed by management. NOTE: These duties are described at the full performance level of the GS-13; the GS-11 and GS-12 are developmental leading to such performance. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: May require some travel. This position is mission essential as the individual will be required to report to work or remain at work location during tsunami, earthquakes, landslides,volcanic eruptions, and other physical phenomena, etc. during high-impact events to provide impact-based decision support services to critical decisionmakers including warning partners such as other federal, state, or local-level governmental agencies over matters involving immediate/emergency public health and safety measures. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The incumbent will be assigned an office in which to perform work related to development projects and other non-operational and administrative tasks.Operations work is performed in the Tsunami Warning Center operations area. It closely resembles a large office with added specialized equipment.Operations work - doing system checks and responding to earthquakes - typically consumes about an hour during an eight-hour shift. Only a few earthquakes each month result in the issuance of an official tsunami product, and only a few earthquakes each year result in a warning-level event thatcan last from a few hours to more than 24 hours. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work is generally sedentary, though carrying heavy or bulky items may be occasionally required. During large earthquakes and/or tsunami events, the increase in workload and the necessity for rapid dissemination of accurate warnings and updatesrequires periods of highly focused and intense work that may go on for several hours. Large earthquakes and/or tsunami events also often require theincumbent to work longer hours than is their usual shift. Such intense activity and the concomitant high level of responsibility may cause some physicaland mental stress. Routine duties require meeting tight deadlines. Noise from computer cooling fans as well as from communications equipment in the operations area can be a nuisance. The incumbent may also workseveral consecutive hours at a computer terminal.