QUALIFICATIONS

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Physical Scientist, all grade levels.
A. Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor’s or higher degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.
**OR
B. A combination of education and experience-education equivalent to one of the majors shown in “A” above (24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science, engineering, or mathematics) that included at least 24 semester hours or the equivalent in physical science and/or related engineering science as described above, plus appropriate experience and/or additional education for a total of 4 years. The education or combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in “A” above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE)

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 .

IF YOU ARE RELYING ON YOUR EDUCATION TO MEET QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

• How to Apply
• -Applications (resume and application questions) for this vacancy must be received on-line via USAJOBS BEFORE midnight Eastern Time (Washington, D.C. time) on the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to submit a complete online resume, you will not be considered for this position. Requests for extensions will not be granted. Most libraries, employment offices, and all USGS personnel offices can provide access to the Internet. If applying online poses a hardship for you, you must speak to someone in the Servicing Human Resources Office listed on this announcement PRIOR TO THE CLOSING DATE for assistance.
• -Instructions for Applying Online for this Vacancy Announcement: 1)Click the blue “Apply Online” button. 2)If you are not a registered USAJOBS user, please create a new account and follow the instructions to complete your application process. If you are a registered user, login to access your existing USAJOBS profile. 3)As a registered user, select a stored resume and select one or more of your stored documents to attach to your application. 4)Check the “Certification” box and click the “Apply for this position now!” button located at the bottom of the screen. 5)Address the eligibility questions as well as the questionnaire containing questions and/or task statements that address the knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies for this vacancy. 6)Submit required documents using one of the available methods listed below. 7) If you experience technical difficulties during the online application process, please contact the USAJOBS helpdesk.

IF YOU ARE RELYING ON YOUR EDUCATION TO MEET QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
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Salary:

• GS-11 Salary: $66,214 (Step 01) to $86,074 (Step 10);
• GS-12 Salary: $79,363 (Step 01) to $103,176 (Step 10)

NOTE: First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.Salary listed may be higher depending upon geographic location with higher locality pay. For locality pay information, click here.
The Water Resources Mission Area, Office of Planning and Programming (WMA-OPP) is responsible for prioritizing and managing investments and resources within the USGS WMA. It is a small office in terms of total staff. It is responsible for end-to-end planning through execution and evaluation of science portfolio activities authorized by Congress through four budget programs. Congressional appropriations support USGS, with partners, to monitor, assess, conduct targeted research, and deliver information on a wide range of water resource topics.

As a Physical Scientist within the Water Resources Mission Area, some of your specific duties will include:

• Designs and conducts multi-disciplinary scientific projects involving the computerized integration of complex combination of multi-layered level thematic data.
• Gathers, analyzes, tabulates, and summarizes scientific, programmatic, and/or budgetary data.
• Formulates improved approaches and strategies for using water data management systems in support of scientific information efforts. Establishes data collection standards and develops new procedures for acquiring and processing scientific data.
• Designs improvements and techniques for processing, editing, integrating, and manipulating data for the purpose of identifying, interpreting, analyzing and correlating the sciences.
• Plans and conducts water data management projects that entail the development of new applications, procedures, and techniques to produce technically advanced presentations using data, pertaining to interdisciplinary scientific subject matter.
• Develops and maintains computer databases; writes, modifies, or uses computer software routines required for analyses of water data management Systems.