Aerospace Engineer (Systems) - Direct Hire

Summary

This position is located in the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Office of Aviation Safety (OAS) in Washington, D.C.. OAS examines various areas relating to the accident aircraft including powerplants, structures, systems, & maintenance records. Aviation engineering investigators serve as group chairman in major aviation investigations & conduct an objective technical investigation of the accident in order to prepare reports used to develop the final report & safety recommendations.

Duties

As a Aerospace Engineer (Systems) - Direct Hire, GS-0861-14, you will perform the following major duties: Support major team launches for national and international investigations. Serve as Systems Group Chairperson on incidents investigated by the Safety Board by providing authoritative engineering expertise on aircraft flight controls, avionics, electrical, fuel systems, and pneumatic systems design, manufacturing, maintenance, and certification. Participate in on-site investigations and initial analyses of aircraft system evidence to identify requirements for post-accident examinations, test plans, and investigations to determine root cause. Coordinate and travel to follow-up examinations of components that may be critical to the accident cause or contributing factors. Lead examination and document observations in field notes. Collaborate with the Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) by providing factual notes that summarize the collection of findings from on-site investigation and follow-up testing throughout the investigation. Prepare factual and analysis reports for most accidents based upon facts, conditions, and circumstances derived from the investigation. Correlate these findings with those of other Group Chairpersons to assist in identifying the cause(s) of the accident. Develop safety recommendations for hazardous conditions and prepare comprehensive, factual conclusions for the Safety Board's accident report based on investigation findings. Physical Demands: Occasionally the aircraft wreckage may contain hazardous materials that may be burning by the time the investigator arrives on-the-scene. The incumbent may be exposed to a variety of weather conditions and other environmental discomforts such as remote, rugged, snow, rain, temperature extremes, swampy or mountainous areas and hostile settings. Investigators may have to wear a hardhat, safety shoes, goggles, gloves, and other protective equipment. Work Environment: The incumbent supports major go-team launches as well as significant international investigations. Major go-team launch teams commonly travel on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) jet from Reagan National Airport within two hours after an accident notification is received. Timely arrival at the scene of a major accident allows for timely documentation of a wreckage; a delay in this effort can have significant impacts, such as impeding the re-opening of an airport. International travel by US Government employees frequently requires the issuance of a visa from the host country, which is most efficiently obtained at the embassies located in Washington, DC. Additionally, security concerns in many locations make it essential that the investigative team travel together.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must meet both the Educational Requirements and the Specialized Experience as described below. You must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 in the federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Executing the engineering evaluation of aircraft systems and components (e.g. aircraft flight controls, avionics, electrical, fuel systems, and pneumatic systems) for root cause failure analysis on major system malfunctions; and Designing, overseeing, or executing comprehensive inspection techniques, functional tests, or hazard analyses to identify systemic aircraft system issues and authoring formal, technical engineering reports used to inform regulatory compliance, airworthiness certification, or industry-wide safety standards; and Acting as a technical authority or organizational representative to communicate aerospace technical information with external stakeholders such as major aircraft manufacturers, national and international aviation organizations, or other federal agencies. For more information see link: Aerospace Engineering Series 0861 (opm.gov) NOTE: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must clearly show the specialized experience and competencies related to this position. Failure to demonstrate how you possess the education, specialized experience and/or competencies will result in an "Ineligible" rating.

Education

EDUCATION: A. 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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 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 and physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR 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. 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 above. 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. Ordina