Physical Science Technician

Full Job Description

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), Navigation Services Division (NSD), Navigation Response Branch (NRB) with one vacancy in each location: New London, CT; Gulfport, MS; Seattle, WA.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NOS OCS-26-12863410-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

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 EDUCATION: There is no positive education requirement for this position.

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 ZT-2 or GS-05 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-1 or GS-04 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assisting in operating or performing maintenance of equipment; and Assisting in processing or compiling physical science data.

OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of physical science, or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics, except financial and commercial mathematics.

OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above.

Note: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements.

To qualify at the ZT-3 or GS-09 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-2 or GS-08 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Participating in the operation or maintenance of hydrographic survey equipment (e.g.

multibeam echosounders, side scan sonars, etc.); Assisting in the acquisition, processing, and analysis of survey data; and Contributing to the development of hydrographic survey reports or standard operating procedures.

OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree in an appropriate field of physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics (except financial and commercial mathematics) or 2 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 band level may be combined with experience. Major Duties:

As a Physical Science Technician, you will perform the following duties: Carry out, monitor, coordinate and control all aspects of shallow water hydrographic survey field operations to support routine nautical chart updates and rapid response to navigational emergencies.

Responsible for the installation, integration, calibration and operation of hydrographic survey equipment and ensure small boat vessels meet operational safety standards.

Perform the acquisition, processing and analysis of survey data. Acquire and analyze survey data to identify and correct data quality issues, equipment malfunctions, operational survey deficiencies.

Recommend improvements to standard operating procedures. Develop technical documents, including hydrographic survey reports and standard operating procedures.

Create geospatial information products to present and disseminate survey information. Conduct training in safety, vessel operations, and survey procedures.

NOTE: These duties are described at the full performance level of the ZT-3; the ZT-2 is developmental leading to such performance.