Physical Scientist

Full Job Description

This position is located within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), with three vacancies in Boulder, CO; Stennis Space Center, MS; Fort Collins, CO; Asheville, NC; Madison, WI; College Park, MD; Silver Spring, MD; or Suitland, MD.

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-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience 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.

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 ZP-4 or 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 ZP-3 or GS-12 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Conducting or leading research to develop, evaluate, and apply remote sensing algorithms using Earth observation data; Designing and execution of modeling experiments with real and simulated observations to assess and improve the impact of satellite measurements on weather forecasting accuracy and environmental prediction systems; Providing project management support for research teams by establishing strategic objectives, prioritizing complex workloads, or evaluating technical performance; and Collaborating with partners or stakeholders to disseminate or integrate remote sensing products or data into weather prediction models.

Major Duties:

As a Physical Scientist, you will serve in one of three specialized capacities: Cloud Science Lead, Enterprise Precipitation Science Lead, and Observing System Assessment Analyst.

Collaborate with internal and external users in the evaluation of experimental and operational satellite products and the assimilation of products for weather prediction; promote the transition of new algorithms and products from research to operations.

Represent the office to facilitate the sharing and use of satellite products and applications with other federal, state, local, and international entities.

Depending on the specific position, you will perform the following duties: Cloud Science Lead or Enterprise Precipitation Science Lead: Lead cloud or precipitation retrieval research and algorithm development to improve the use of satellite observations for weather analysis, forecasting, and other operational applications.

Develop new and maintain/sustain existing algorithms and products, analyze data from a variety of sources, improve and originate approaches, methods, and procedures for processing Earth observations from remote sensing satellites.

Create new applications using next generations of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite data.

Observing System Assessment Lead: Lead or co-lead the design, execution, and analysis of quantitative assessments to measure the impacts of current and future satellite and remote sensing observations.

This role focuses on evaluating how these observing systems influence environmental prediction and decision support applications, particularly through data assimilations in numerical models.

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.