Computational Physicist

Summary

NIST is seeking a Computational Physicist to support computing infrastructure across the Material Measurement Laboratory. This role enhances the performance and reproducibility of materials science workflows, and involves deploying CPU/GPU resources, administering CTCMS projects, migrating data, and ensuring IT policy alignment. This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

The primary purpose of this position is to provide operational administration and technical support for high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure across the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML). The Computational Physicist works closely with senior staff and researchers to optimize computing environments, implement performance-enhancing strategies, and maintain alignment with institutional IT policies. Major duties include: HPC Infrastructure Support: Assisting in the deployment, configuration, and maintenance of both CPU and GPU high-performance computing resources across the laboratory. Operational Administration: Serving as an operational administrator for the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science (CTCMS) to provide technical support for computational projects. Workflow Optimization: Implementing and testing technical strategies aimed at improving the performance and reproducibility of computational materials science workflows. Data and System Management: Providing technical assistance for the operation of data management systems, including executing data migration activities to new computing platforms. Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborating directly with senior staff to ensure all HPC infrastructure and resources are configured to meet the specific research needs of MML scientists. Policy Compliance: Maintaining the technical alignment of all managed computational and data systems with NIST-wide IT and security policies.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Degree: physics; or related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in physics. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in physics totaling at least 24 semester hours, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND In addition to the basic requirements: Applicants must also have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 (ZP-II at NIST) level. Specialized experience is defined as experience in Linux system administration, HPC cluster operations and resource management. OR 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR A combination of graduate education and specialized experience as defined in the additional requirements. 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

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 before a final offer of employment. Use of foreign education for qualifications. An accredited organization must evaluate education completed outside of the U.S. 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 course-by-course listing) is required with your application.