Atomic Clock Systems Engineer

NIST's Time & Frequency Division is hiring an Atomic Clock Systems Engineer to sustain the official source of US time. We need an ambitious engineer to manage the complex hardware & IT security of our atomic timescales. You will ensure 24/7 reliability of critical infrastructure, working with world-renowned experts to secure this essential national function.

This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates

Qualifications:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

• A. Degree in Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:
  • Lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; OR
  • Include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics:
    1. statics, dynamics;
    2. strength of materials (stress-strain relationships);
    3. fluid mechanics, hydraulics;
    4. thermodynamics;
    5. electrical fields and circuits;
    6. nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and
    7. any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

• B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished
  1. a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying 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:
     • Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
     • Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
     • Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
     • Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet one of the following:

1. One year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level (ZP-II at NIST). Specialized experience is defined as: experience in computer networking and Linux operating systems, including programming or debugging code to optimize performance or improve operational reliability; OR
2. A Master's or equivalent degree; OR
3. A combination of education and experience

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.

The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook.

If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration

Responsibilities:

NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) sets the definitive U.S. standards for nearly every kind of measurement employed in commerce and research, spanning more than 20 orders of magnitude. This position is in PML's Time Realization & Distribution Group, which operates and continuously analyzes a large ensemble of commercial atomic clocks to provide the U.S. with official sources of time and frequency.

As the Atomic Clock Systems Engineer, you will:

• Directly contribute to the 24/7 operation of the official source of U.S. time and its primary distribution modes.

• Maintain and improve complex scientific apparatus, integrating IT security best practices and modern engineering standards.

• Collaborate with world-renowned experts in atomic timekeeping to ensure the accuracy and availability of mission-critical national infrastructure.

Salary : $83,265