PDF versionJob 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: SAC-2020-0163 (USGS employees only).
Major Duties
As the Branch Chief of the Decision Support Branch, Integrated Information Dissemination Division (IIDD), Office of the Chief Operating Officer within the Water Mission area, some of your specific duties will include:
- Serves as the senior scientist and the supervisor of the Decision Support Branch with responsibility for oversight and leadership of scientific and technical guidance in the areas of decision analysis and decision science, socio-economic analysis and science and stakeholder engagement.
- Assists the Division Director to provide advice on a wide range of information and dissemination services to technical leaders in the Water Mission Area (WMA), the USGS, and other federal, state, tribal, local and non-governmental agencies.
- Assists the Division Director to formulate policies, operations and to promote branch services that support decision-making needs of the WMA, the USGS and other federal, state, tribal and local agencies by developing plans and programs.
- As a supervisor, plans the work of the group, established work standards, provides job priorities, ensures timely performance and reviews and evaluates performance. Ensures equal employment opportunity and on-the-job safety.
- Ensures excellence in strategic and operational management of the Branch, including funding and finances, equipment, facilities and that projects are aligned with Bureau Fundamental Science.
Duty Station: TBD
The Headquarters for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is located in Reston, VA; however, this position may be located there or at any other established USGS duty location within the contiguous United States (i.e., includes Alaska and Hawaii). The final duty location of this position will be agreed upon through negotiations between the hiring manager and the individual selected. The salary of the position will be based on the locality pay area of the final agreed upon duty location. This position will be expected to travel periodically to other USGS science centers and field sites for meetings or other business needs.
For a list of established USGS science centers and their duty locations, please go to: https://www.usgs.gov/connect/locations
2020 Salary information for different locality pay areas is available at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2020/general-schedule/
Qualifications
This is an interdisciplinary position advertised under 3 possible occupational series. To be minimally qualified, you must meet: 1) the one year of specialized experience requirement defined below; and 2) the basic requirements of at least one of the three occupational series to qualify. Specialized Experience requirement: In addition to the basic education requirements stated under the occupational series that you are applying for, applicants for all job series (Operations Research, Social Scientist and Physical Scientist) must have one year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled, is equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal service, and is equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.Examples of such experience may include 1) performing decision science and socio-economic analysis to design decision support tools and data delivery systems to aid water resource managers, emergency managers and policy makers to assess extreme events, water availability and climate change; 2) providing scientific and technical guidance to water management decision makers or leadership to staff in the areas of decision analysis and decision science, socio-economic analysis and science, and stakeholder engagement, for large water science projects. The complexity of this work typically required extensive modification and adaptation of standard procedures, methods, and techniques, and the development of totally new methods and techniques to address novel or obscure problems for which guidelines or precedents were not substantially applicable. At this level,scientists have wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment to perform work of marked difficulty and responsibility.
Basic Requirement for Occupational Series:
For Physical Scientist: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. For Operations Research Analyst:Applicants must meet the educational requirement below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Operations Research Analyst, all grade levels. Degree in operations research or at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses requiring substantial competence in college-level mathematics or statistics. At least 3 of the 24 semester hours must have been in calculus. The primary requirement of operations research work is competence in the rigorous methods of scientific inquiry and analysis rather than in the subject matter of the problem. Therefore, applicants should have sufficient knowledge of applied mathematics to understand and use the fundamental concepts and techniques of operations research methods of analysis. In addition, some positions may require knowledge of a specific subject area.
Courses acceptable for qualifying for operations research positions may have been taken in departments other than Operations Research, e.g., Engineering (usually Industrial Engineering), Science, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, or Management Science.
The following are illustrative of acceptable courses: optimization; mathematical modeling; queueing theory; engineering; physics (except descriptive or survey courses); econometrics; psychometrics; biometrics; experimental psychology; physical chemistry; industrial process analysis; managerial economics; computer science; measurement for management; mathematical models in social phenomena; and courses that involved application of operations research techniques and methodologies to problems of management, marketing, systems design, and other specialized fields; or other comparable quantitative analysis courses for which college-level mathematics or statistics is a prerequisite. Courses in theory of probability and statistics are highly desirable, but are not specified as minimum educational requirements because to do so would possibly exclude some applicants who would otherwise be well qualified. For Social Scientist: Basic Requirement: Applicants must meet A, B or C below to satisfy the basic requirement for Social Scientist, all grade levels. Degree: behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position; OR Combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field; OR Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.
Pay Range
$91,231.00 - $133,465.00