Health Physicist

Full Job Description

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S.

Customs and Border Protection, Office of Human Resources Management, Occupational Safety and Health Division and may be filled in one of the following locations: Washington, D.C.

Norfolk, VA Baltimore, MD Philadelphia, PA Indianapolis, IN Basic Requirement: Individuals must meet one of the options below and provide supporting documentation to meet the basic requirement for this position.

A. Degree: natural science or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus. OR B.

Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or other education; or certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to that described in paragraph A.

AND Experience: You qualify for the GS-13 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as: Monitoring a safety and health program involving radiation hazards; providing radiation safety training to personnel.

Providing guidance on the safe operation of equipment that uses radioactive materials or radiation producing equipment to ensure radiation exposures to personnel are kept as low as reasonably achievable.

Advising management on issues affecting radiation programs. Determining licensing requirements of radioactive materials in accordance with appropriate regulatory agencies (e.g.

Nuclear Regulatory commission and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission).

Performing calculations involving radiological activity (i.e., field strength, concentrations in matter, air and water, shielding, personnel dose, exposure estimates).

NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible.

Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements.

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.

You must: Meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process; and Meet all applicable Time in Grade requirements (current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the federal service) by 04/17/2026.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees.

If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Background Investigation: U.S.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a federal law enforcement agency that requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to employment in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity.

During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions or current felony charges, the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), and the use of non-prescribed controlled substances including any experimentation, possession, sale, receipt, manufacture, cultivation, production, transfer, shipping, trafficking, or distribution of controlled substances.

For additional information on the preemployment process, review the following link: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers Residency: There is a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by CBP.

Individuals are required to have physically resided in the United States or its protectorates (as declared under international law) for at least three of the last five years.

If you do not meet the residency requirement and you have been physically located in a foreign location for more than two of the last five years, you may request an exception to determine if you are eligible for a residency waiver by meeting one or more of the following conditions: Working for the U.S.

Government as a federal civilian or as a member of the military A dependent who was authorized to accompany a federal civilian or member of the military who was working for the U.S.

government Participation in a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. affiliated college or university Working as a contractor, intern, consultant or volunteer supporting the U.S.

government Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment.

Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period. Major Duties:

In this position, you will be responsible for managing all field operations in a specific national region dealing with the development, implementation, and oversight of radiation safety programs involving the use of radioactive materials, ionizing radiation sources, and non-ionizing radiation at CBP ports, sectors, and worksites located throughout the United States, its territories, and other locations where CBP assets may be deployed.

This position starts at a salary of $106,437.00 (GS-13, Step 1) to $138,370.00 (GS-13, Step 10).

Duties of this position include: Investigating a wide variety of health physics and radiation safety problems as they arise and providing written and/or oral recommendations to local management.

Coordinating, conducting, and documenting annual site visits and semi-annual radiation source inventory to verify compliance with Federal, state, and regional radiation safety standards.

Conducting site acceptance radiation audits for all new large scale Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) equipment in the region, and report results in writing.

Conducting radiation safety training to personnel tasked as primary operators of large-scale systems.