Physical Science Technician

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), with one vacancy in Gulfport, MS.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NOS OCS--ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./

EDUCATION:

There is no positive education requirement for this position.

SPECIALIZED

EXPERIENCE:

Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, Ameri Corps) 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.

SPECIALIZED

EXPERIENCE:

Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-1 or GS-04 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Assisting in performing maintenance and repair of survey vessel or equipment; and
• Assisting in processing or compiling data from hydrographic surveys.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF

EDUCATION:

Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of physical science, or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics, except financial and commercial mathematics.

OR

COMBINATION OF

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

A combination of education and experience equivalent to that described above.
Note: Only post-high school education in excess of two years leading to a bachelor's degree is qualifying for combination.

SPECIALIZED

EXPERIENCE:

Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-2 or GS-08 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Participating in the maintenance, repair, or operation of hydrographic survey equipment (e.g. multibeam echo sounders, side scan sonars, etc.);
• Assisting in the acquisition, processing, and analysis of survey data; and
• Contributing to the development of hydrographic survey reports or standard operating procedures.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF

EDUCATION:

Master's or equivalent graduate degree in an appropriate field of physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics (except financial and commercial mathematics) or 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

OR

COMBINATION OF

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements.
Note: Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade may be combined with experience.