General Engineer

The position is located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace (WJHTCAA), Test and Evaluation Division, Verification & Validation (V&V) and Conception Visualization Branch, E5A. The Branch's work focuses on V&V support, test standards development and management, and concept visualization for quality delivery of test products. The position is in the V&V and Test Standard team to develop and establish common standards, provide technically sound advice in support of various acquisition strategies and approaches, leads the Test Standards Board (TSB) to review and feedback test artifacts through the acquisition life cycle as requested, and collaborate with stakeholders for the continuing improvements of test standards and practices. Serves as a member of the Verification & Validation and test standard team to provide technical support, expertise, methods and tools that facilitate consistent V&V practices and implementations in support of FAA NAS acquisition programs. Serves as a test Subject Matter Expert (SME) who supports the Test Standards Board to establish and maintain test standards, processes, procedures, updates, an test related training requirements to support various NAS acquisition programs. Advises test and program personnel on test strategies, approaches, conduct and report to ensure compliance to the intents of test standards; reviews T&E progress and completed documents to meet program goals and objectives. Incumbent reviews T&E and other documents requiring Technical Center Director approval and provides technical support to Technical Center test related initiatives. Provides SME advices to develop, evaluate or revise V&V/T&E standards, processes and procedures. Conducts technical V&V reviews of draft and final work products. Analyzes the T&E documentation of complex NAS programs to assess adequacy in addressing technical requirements, operational requirements, and the contract requirements needed for effective T&E oversight and execution. Serves as test SME to support the FAA NAS acquisition programs on test related planning and implementation strategies. This also includes the V&V support to FAA Systems Engineering for NAS requirements management, review and approval. Performs multiple, varying, and complex assignments and plans the implementation of projects/programs under limited direction of a manager, project/program manager, or more experienced engineer. May act as a contributing specialist on large work activities or as a team leader for single or small work activities. Applies experience and advanced knowledge of engineering principles, theories, and concepts applicable to his/her discipline to accomplish assignments and to develop plans and techniques to improve programs and policies. Considers the objectives of the major subdivision and LOB/SO when developing, integrating and implementing solutions to diverse, complex problems. Typical assignments may include system design and integration; extensive research; and shared responsibility for project/program management. Defines, plans, and organizes assigned resources to accomplish organizational objectives. Allocates resources to accomplish small work activities within established schedules. Contacts are internal and external. May act as a key technical point of contact for assigned activities. Contributes to the preparation of management/technical reports or contractual documents, and may be called upon to communicate the overall results of a project or work activity to FAA management, the aviation and aerospace industries, and other external parties. Established policies/procedures provide guidance for most assignments, but allow considerable discretion to select the most appropriate approach or to recommend new approaches. Assignments typically require solutions that are to be derived by interpreting and extrapolating from situations that were faced in the past. Provides recommendations to improve work processes. Resolves all but unique technical problems without the intervention of management or a more experienced engineer. Identifies and informs management of problems that require their attention. Often develops and recommends techniques to address problem situations. To view the complete OPM qualification standard for Engineering Series 0800, please refer to: all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf Basic Requirements: A. Degree: 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)1, 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)2 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. To qualify for this position, you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to FV-H, FG/GS 11/12. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized Experience is: Experience applying verification and validation principles to develop test strategies, translate system requirements into testapproaches, objectives and procedures, maintain requirements-to-test traceability, and plan, conduct, and evaluate testing of NAS systems across different development methods, system configurations, test environments, and deployment strategies. Qualifications must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. We are not accepting applications from noncitizens. This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page). Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration. Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation. Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered.