Summary What General Information Do I Need To Know About This Position? This is an interdisciplinary position and is being advertised concurrently with the following announcements: Open to all U.S. citizens under: USGS-RES-24-12529548-DE-KF Responsibilities As the NEW MISSIONS BRANCH CHIEF within the EARTH RESOURCES OBSERVATION SCIENCE center, some of your specific duties will include: - Lead and supervise computer scientists, computer engineers, and support staff. - Formulate and defines mission and program objectives and mission requirements, exploring and establishing the value of new technologies and identifying the best approaches for innovative development, establishing the vision and direction of the project work, and perform out-year estimates for activities, including scope, schedule, budget, and risk objectives in coordination with USGS, DOI and NASA. - Manages project budget of $150 Million dollars to include analysis of project requirements, schedule, and risk to ensure that all development elements achieve their critical milestones and the critical path to launch each satellite. - Lead the successful development and integration of program requirements into current and future architectures. Support engagement and integration across EROS Branches to ensure ultimate successful acceptance and transition of missions such as the Landsat 9 program into an operational environment. - Leads the identification of major issues and opportunities in remote sensing, satellite systems, ground systems and other data acquisition technologies; for developing proposed new actions to deal with these issues; and for directing Center planning for prospective changes in functions or program activities to resolve changing priorities. - Set visions and strategies, mentoring and coaching staff in performance based contracting principles and applications and working to resolve government and contractor issues. May serve on Source Selection Evaluation Boards. Requirements Conditions of Employment Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period. This position requires completion of a one year supervisory/managerial probationary period, if one has not previously been completed. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information. Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position? If selected for this position, you may be required to file one or more financial statements upon reporting and annually, some of which may be subject to public disclosure. Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued. A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system. If you are a Federal employee applying for a promotion (under merit promotion procedures) you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of the announcement. Qualifications BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR COMPUTER ENGINEER: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Computer Engineer, all grade levels. A. Degree: 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 5 of the following 7 areas of engineering science of 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. ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF QUALIFYING: In lieu of meeting the specific educational requirements listed above, applicants may substitute four years of college level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional 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. This knowledge and understanding must be equivalent to that provided by a full 4-year professional engineering curriculum. ***The adequacy of such background MUST be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional Registration - Current registration as a professional engineer 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; or 2. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional engineering registration; or (**NOTE: Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college or university that included 60 semester hrs. of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET) may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-5. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements specified in paragraph "A" above.) 3. Specified Academic Courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in "A" above: i.e., differential and integral calculus and courses in five of the seven areas of engineering science or physics as listed under "A" of the basic requirements above as (a) through (g). The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in "A" above; or 4. Related Curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided you also have at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must meet the following to satisfy the basic education requirement for Computer Scientist, all grade levels. Bachelor's or higher degree in computer science OR a bachelor's or higher degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. GS-15: In addition to the Basic Education Requirement as described above, applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-15 level: One year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-14 level in the Federal service. Examples of such experience may include: Leading, managing, directing and mentoring a team of engineers, scientists and support staff in defining, planning, staffing, budgeting and coordinating implementation of integrated multi-disciplinary earth science programs and data collection missions preferably with remote sensing and land change science programs. Expertise in the theories, practices, handling, processing, and analysis of remotely sensed imagery and their collection systems, and other geospatial datasets, as well as a deep familiarity regarding their application to earth sciences. Effectively communicate engineering and scientific results and theory in coordinating activities across national and international science organizations. Developing long-range and short-range plans regarding goals, objectives, staffing needs/priorities, budgets, and technology development to include scientific data collection and management, and application of relevant Artificial Intelligence methods. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement. Education 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. Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs . Transcripts --If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.), which includes semester hours earned and grade received, by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible. Additional Information Other Information: Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position. USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations. The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361. DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify. The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. Agency Benefits: USGS has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework in accordance with the DOI Telework policy and with supervisor approval. The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. For additional information on our internal telework policy, please reference the Department of the Interior Telework Handbook at: https://www.doi.gov/telework/policies. Working for the U.S. Geological Survey offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; health, life, dental, vision, and long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.