Summary The Spectrum Engineering Group is responsible for securing, managing, and protecting all civil aviation radio frequency spectrum resources to ensure interference-free operation of all radio frequency-dependent communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) systems within the National Airspace System (NAS). Responsibilities This position serves as an Electronics Engineer who applies a depth of knowledge and understanding of the theories, concepts, and principles of electronic circuits, radio frequency propagation, and equipment to test and analyze radio frequencies and equipment. This position is critical to the safe and efficient operation of the NAS. The Electronics Engineer applies experience testing frequencies, bandwidths, emissions, and equipment to provide a qualitative assessment of the effects on aeronautical systems. Using established test plans and procedures, he/she participates as a team member in projects designed to ensure that spectrum engineering requirements for new civil aviation communications, navigation, and surveillance systems and functions are satisfied. Assists team members collecting and analyzing data, performing trend analyses, testing, and writing technical reports. Applies experience and detailed knowledge of the theories, concepts and principles of electronic circuits, radio frequency propagation, and equipment. He/she applies skills and experience operating spectrum engineering test equipment & tools such as spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, and network analyzers to perform a variety of radio frequency measurements and electromagnetic compatibility studies. Applies experience using software development environments such as Lab Windows, LabView, and Microsoft Visual Studio to create automated test scenarios. Uses programming languages such as C#, Visual Basic, and Objective-C in support of existing and future spectrum engineering applications. Applies experience and detailed knowledge of spectrum engineering criteria, and guidelines such as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policies and manuals to perform radio frequency analysis and assessment. He/she collaborates with other teams within the Group on issues related to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), frequency assignments, and NAS Operations. He/she refers to senior management and Service Area Frequency Management Officers (FMO) on difficult frequency assignment issues on NAS systems. Contacts are primarily internal to the Spectrum Engineering Services Group and other lines of business or staff offices within the FAA, although there may be some contact with external entities such as FCC, NTIA, and the General Public. Contacts are typically intended to share information, provide data and/or written analyses, and/or discuss the status of assignments. Established policies/procedures provide guidance for most assignments but allow some discretion to select the most appropriate approach. Typically receives guidance on selecting approaches from a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced engineer. May provide recommendations to improve work processes. Demonstrates some independence in planning time and using assigned resources to accomplish assignments and small projects. Work is reviewed periodically during assignments and at completion to ensure timeliness and technical compliance with the requirements of the project or other work activity. Requirements Conditions of Employment We are not accepting applications from noncitizens. Qualifications IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED BELOW IN THE EDUCATION SECTION: To qualify for this position, you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FV-G, FG/GS-11 level. This experience is typically related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been at least equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience testing frequencies, bandwidths, emissions, and equipment to provide a qualitative assessment of the effects on aeronautical systems. AND Experience using technical software and programs such as Lab Windows, LabView, and Microsoft Visual Studio to create automated radio frequency electronic test scenarios. You should include relevant examples of the specialized experience in your work history. Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered. Answer all questions to the best of your ability. DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE YOU HOLD, OR HAVE HELD THIS POSITION, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE FOUND ELIGIBLE. You may be asked to provide evidence or documentation that you have this type of experience later in the selection process. Your responses are subject to verification through job interviews or any other information obtained during the application process. Any exaggeration of your experience or any attempt to conceal information can result in disqualification. *Applicants who fail to demonstrate possession of any of the above criteria AND who do not provide the required documentation will receive no further consideration for this position. * Applicants may be asked to verify information on their application for employment with the FAA. *All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. * NOTE: AFSCME Interview Criteria: Article 42, Section 13 states: If the selecting official decides to interview any employee on the selection list for a vacancy, then all who remain under consideration for the position at that point in the process must be interviewed. If the selection list is shortened to a best-qualified list through a comparative process, then the best-qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list. If it is determined that interviews are required and telephone interviews are not utilized, travel expenses incidental to these interviews will be paid in accordance with the Agency's travel regulations and this Agreement. Education This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page). Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration. Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation. Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered. Basic Requirements: A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; 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 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. 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 requirements, 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. 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. Ordinarily, there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise. If you are a current or former Federal employee, and you currently hold or previously held a position classified in the 0800 occupational series, you are not required to submit a college transcript provided you upload a copy of the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, verifying your classification in the 0800 occupational series. Applicants, who are not currently in the 0800 occupational series in the Federal Government and fail to provide a copy of an unofficial or official transcript will not receive further consideration for this vacancy. Upon selection, if not currently employed in the 0800 occupational series, you will be required to submit an official transcript prior to appointment. If you do not have an official transcript (original, with the raised seal), you should contact your school immediately to request it. Foreign Education: For additional information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional Information We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions. Position may be subject to a background investigation. A one-year probationary period may be required. This position is covered by the Department of Transportation's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. Any applicant tentatively selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment or pre-appointment drug screening. Persons occupying a "testing designated position (TDP)" will be subject to random drug and/or alcohol testing. NOTES: 1. This position is covered by the FAA Core Compensation plan. Additional information about Core Compensation is available at: https://www.faa.gov/jobs/working\_here/benefits. 2. As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of Knowledge, Skills, and Ability (KSA) narratives from the initial application in the hiring process for all announcements. Therefore, as an applicant, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA. In place of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA section, in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you chose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and reflect the highest level of ability. Your KSA answers will be evaluated further to validate whether the level that you selected is appropriate based on the work history and experience you provided. Your answers may be adjusted by a human resource specialist as appropriate. 3. Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and/or selective placement factor(s) (SPF) may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) and/or Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: (1) score order; (2) category grouping; (3) alphabetical; or (4) priority grouping and referred to the selecting official for selection consideration. 4. This Level 2 (Non-Critical Sensitive; Secret) position requires favorable adjudication of an Access National Agency Check and Inquiries (ANACI) background investigation before appointment unless a waiver is obtained. 5. Multiple Selections May be made from this Vacancy Announcement. Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA