LEAD SYSTEMS ENGINEER

Summary

You will serve as an ENGINEER/SCIENTIST - Lead Systems Engineer for Test and Evaluation of Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Systems in the Weapons Control & Integration Department of NAVSURFWARCENDLD.

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Duties

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• You will work to establish rigorous and comprehensive TE (Test and Evaluation) for automated systems, ensuring the highest levels of reliability, safety, and mission success in the most challenging and complex environments.
• You will develop and establish a network of key partnerships for data acquisition and development of data management tools to support AAI (Artificial Intelligence Systems)-enabled systems.
• You will develop proposals to address and close identified capability gaps and manage related projects.
• You will coordinate efforts with the E40 AAI TE Lead, H60 Software Architect, and other relevant technical staff and project leads across NSWC Dahlgren.
• You will partner with other DoD TE organizations to define a cohesive Joint Service plan for AAI verification, validation, and certification.
• You will work with the DoD TE Community of Practice (CoP), the Modeling and Simulation (MS) Community of Practice (CoP) and the Artificial Intelligence (Al) /Machine Learning (ML) CoP to establish common practices and share lessons learned.
• You will work with the USV Autonomy Baseline Lead and the Weapon Autonomy Technical Lead to define realistic use cases for AAI-enabled systems and use those to assess AAI TE requirements.
• You will provide direction and requirements to MS community developing Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) test capabilities for AAI-enabled systems.
• You will provide input and guidance for development of the Machine Learning Operations (ML Ops) pipeline required for data management and enabling AAI-capabilities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• This position is covered under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA). Certification in the Acquisition Functional Area and category assigned to the position is required within established category timeframes.
• Successful completion of a pre-employment drug test (including marijuana) is required. A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if you fail to report to the drug test appointment or fail the test. You will be subject to random testing.
• This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.

Qualifications

In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the next lower pay band, ND-04 (GS-12/13 equivalency), in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: As a professional Engineer or Scientist with experience leading Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning projects.

Examples of qualifying experience may include:

• Demonstrated ability to lead the design, development, and implementation of software test tools.
• Deep understanding of the entire lifecycle of Al/ML models, including data ingestion, model training, evaluation, validation, deployment, and continuous monitoring.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing the entire software development lifecycle by applying Agile methodologies and a DevSecOps framework to enforce best practices for quality and cybersecurity.
• Expertise in providing technical and project management leadership, including developing project plans, managing finances and task execution, and providing oversight to contractors and government software development teams.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze project requirements, develop methods of test, test execution, analyze data and report results in support warfare system development.
• Proven ability to communicate orally effectively and professionally and in writing with peers, sponsor organizations, key stakeholders, high-level management, and industry partners on behalf of your organization and the Navy.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

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General Engineering Series, 0801

General Physical Science Series, 1301

Operations Research Series, 1515

Mathematics Series, 1520

Computer Science, 1550

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet at least one of the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual:

• Professional Engineering Series (08XX) - Degree: A professional engineering degree from an ABET-accredited college or university; OR a degree with curriculum in differential and integral calculus, with additional courses in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics; or electronics; OR
• Professional Engineering Series (08XX) - Substitution of Education/Experience: A combination of education and experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering; and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: (a) professional registration, (b) evidence of successfully passing the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination; (c) successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified above; or (d) successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering provided that it included at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. (Note to Applicants: Please see the Qualifications & Education sections of this announcement for a link to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Individual Occupational Requirements. OPM guidance indicates that there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience. This training plan or experience must be well documented and provided at time of application.); OR
• 1301-General Physical Science Series: A degree in 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 education equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education; OR
• 1515-Operations Research Series: A degree in operations research; or a related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses. At least 3 of these 24 semester hours must have been in calculus; OR
• 1520-Mathematics Series: A degree in mathematics; or a combination of education and experience - courses equivalent to a major in mathematics (including at least 24 semester hours in mathematics), plus appropriate experience or additional education. The total coursework described above must have included differential and integral calculus and, in addition, four advanced mathematics courses requiring calculus or equivalent mathematics courses as a prerequisite; OR
• 1550-Computer Science Series: A degree in computer science; or a degree with at least 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of these 30 semester hours must have been in a combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus.

Additional information

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

During the application process you will have the ability to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions in the local commuting area. Depending on the hiring organization and the position being filled, job requirements (e.g., security clearance, travel, drug testing, financial disclosure filing, bargaining unit status, etc.) may vary. Other hiring managers filling similar positions may offer relocation expense reimbursement and/or may offer recruitment incentives for new employees, depending on funding availability and in accordance with policy. If you opt-in and are referred on a certificate, your resume will be available to other hiring managers for 180-days from the date the job announcement closes. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: ;br>
PPP applicants will be placed at the FPL, if determined Well Qualified (WQ). To receive priority consideration, the FPL must be the same grade level or equivalent of the retained grade or the grade held immediately prior to separation.

ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a rating in the highly qualified category (score 85) or higher. ICTAP candidates must provide copies of all of the following documentation at the time of application: 1) agency notice; 2) most recent performance appraisal; and 3) most recent SF-50 or notification of personnel action that includes position, grade level, and duty location. Applicants who do not provide this documentation will not receive consideration as an ICTAP candidate. For more information about ICTAP eligibility please review the following link: ;br>
Military Spouse Preference applicants will be placed at the highest grade for which they have applied and are determined Best Qualified (BQ). A BQ military spouse possesses knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies comparable to others who meet the competitive referral criteria for the specific position.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Salary : $143,913 - $197,200