Summary
This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), with one vacancy in Plainsboro, NJ; Silver Spring, MD; Boulder, CO; Seattle, WA; Miami FL; Ann Arbor, MI; or Norman OK. This position is also announced under vacancy number OAR GFDL-27-13082377-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.
Duties
As a Computer Scientist, you will perform the following duties: Perform basic or applied research to enhance the computing environment for applied mathematicians, physical scientists, and engineers through development in such areas as computer architecture, including vector and parallel machines, systems software and control languages. Review strategic and operational requirements for information systems. Develop data models and logical database designs and populate data dictionaries. Develop and enforce naming conventions for data entities and relationships. Use automated tools, particularly Information Resource Dictionary Systems, for storage and analysis of metadata. Develop functional requirements for other automated tools, develop standards and guidelines. Develop methodologies and techniques for designing very large-scale distributed information systems serving many users and applications. Develop methods for coordinating widely distributed resources for information retrieval, transaction processing, computation, and graphic display. Develop reference models for distribution system architectures. Determine architectures for new applications with data, audio, and video components.
Requirements
This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band. The ZP-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14. Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Additional Information. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Qualification requirements must be met by closing date of the announcement. Additional Considerations: Three year probationary period may be required.* Payment of relocation expenses (PCS) is not authorized. This position requires a High Risk Security Clearance. Background investigation will be required. Continued employment is subject to applicant's successful completion of security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. *Note: A one year probationary period will be required unless you are a current Department of Commerce (including NOAA) employee and are in the same line of work and with no more than a 30 day break in service. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, for those required to serve a probationary period, we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: Your performance and conduct; Needs and interests of the agency; Whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and Whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of then Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.
Education
Substitution of education for specialized experience is not applicable to this vacancy. College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), name of accredited institution, course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken. Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty. Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire and/or evaluation through a manual assessment process, and your responses to any additional assessments (i.e. USAHire) required for this position. CATEGORY RATING: Category rating will be used in the ranking and selection process for this position. Within each category, those entitled to Veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. The quality categories are Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest quality category (Gold) depending on the position and grade level of the job. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating. Your responses to the application questions and/or assessment method will determine your placement in the appropriate quality category described above. Your responses must be substantiated by your resume and supporting documents. If you do not respond to the application questions you may be rated ineligible. Candidates placed in the "Gold" category will be identified first for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork If referred, all relevant documents submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review. To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13082378