Summary NIST works with industry and science to advance innovation and improve quality of life. We're looking for a Environmental Engineer to join our team! This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates. Responsibilities The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides federal leadership to develop community resilience guidance and metrics for buildings and infrastructure systems, based on the social systems that they support, for natural, manmade, and technological hazards. This research focuses on the role that buildings and infrastructure systems play in assuring that social and economic functions are resumed after a hazard event in a manner that minimizes detrimental impacts to the community. NIST efforts include community engagement and research activities. NIST released its Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems in October 2015 and convened the Community Resilience Panel in November 2015 to bring together diverse stakeholders. The NIST-sponsored Community Resilience Center of Excellence is a collaborative partner and provides a robust extension of NIST community resilience research. For more about the Community Resilience Program, https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience. We are looking for a Research Environmental Engineer to join our team! This position will play a critical role in building a vibrant and innovative research program focused on providing communities with the science-based tools and guidance they need to improve their resilience performance. If selected, you will join NIST's world-class research team in Community Resilience, and will be responsible for: Developing, conducting, and reporting on research in the field of environmental engineering for community resilience. Collaborating with the NIST-sponsored Community Resilience Center of Excellence. Participating in national and international collaborations, workshops, and seminars. Engaging with communities. Developing relevant metrics, models, tools, and guidance to support community resilience planning and implementation. This position will provide technical expertise on resilience-related systems science, including the application of a range of quantitative and qualitative methods for indicator development and validation to the measurement of community resilience, the generation of guidance related to the science of resilience measurement, and the use of novel approaches for characterizing the interconnectedness of social and physical systems. In addition to the above duties, you will: Conduct data collection, management, and analysis (e.g., statistical, geospatial, qualitative). Develop systems-based optimization models and risk-based decision support tools, and the use of decision science for climate and natural hazards planning. Participate in field studies, technical investigations, and disaster reconnaissance data collection, as needed. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Basic Requirements: A. Degree in Engineering: To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) 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: (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 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: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must have at least one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-11/12 (ZP-III at NIST) grade level. Specialized experience is defined as experience in both A and B below: A) Applying qualitative and quantitative methodologies from areas relevant to community resilience research (such as environmental engineering, systems analysis, ecological economics, and/or decision science); leading modeling or analysis (e.g., statistical, qualitative) for decision support in areas such as climate change, natural hazards, environmental management, or energy. AND B) Communicating results through presentations and/or publications. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done. We will credit all qualifying volunteer experience in your application. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Applicant Reconsideration Education This position has an education requirement. Transcripts must be submitted to validate that the education requirement has been met. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. However, an official copy will be required prior to a final offer of employment. Education completed outside of the U.S. must be evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that it is comparable to education received in accredited institutions in the U.S. Click here to view a listing of accredited organizations from the Department of Education's website. A copy of the foreign education evaluation (containing the results with a course by course listing) is required with your application. Additional Information This position is covered under NIST's Alternative Personnel Management System (APMS). The APMS is a pay-for-performance system with excellent HR flexibilities to help NIST recruit and retain top talent. Find out more about the APMS here! Your application package may be shared with other selecting officials at NIST for similar opportunities and additional selections may be made from this vacancy. Click all links in this vacancy announcement to view additional information or instructions. All documents submitted for this announcement must be legible in order to make qualification or eligibility determinations. A trial period the length of the appointment may be required. This appointment may be extended up to six years without further competition. This term appointment may be converted to a permanent position without additional competition. We may share your application package with other selecting officials at NIST with opportunities like this one. Additional selections may be made through this vacancy. NIST strives to build a flexible and encouraging work environment to bring out the best in our employees. To help our employees balance responsibilities at home and at work, NIST offers a variety of work-life flexibilities such as: Telework Flexible work schedules Paid parental leave Paid vacation Sick leave Family-friendly leave Childcare subsidy program for qualifying families Child and elder-care resources On-site childcare center Lactation spaces Wellness programs Fitness center Employee assistance programs