Meteorologist

Summary

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service (NWS), Weather Forecast Office (WFO), with 1 vacancy in Honolulu, HI. WFOs issue warnings and forecasts for their local area, keeping the public informed of weather hazards and interacting with emergency management partners to mitigate the impacts of weather and water hazards.

Duties

• As a Meteorologist, you will perform the following duties: As Senior Meteorologist, lead and coordinate hydrologic service products for assigned Weather Forecast Office (WFO) Honolulu, HI and National Specialized Center (NSC) area, including forecasts and warnings of floods and river stage for the public and numerous users dealing with water resources and land management, transportation, emergency management, river and floodplain control, etc. Serve as a Senior Forecaster to develop, prepare and issue all warning, forecast and service products assigned to the WFO and NSC. Develop and issue scheduled and unscheduled products, and official forecast products for the general public and specialized users in the area of responsibility. Supervise the professional accomplishments and oversee the support of federal professional research scientists. Plan and distribute work to be accomplished by subordinates, and perform technical and administrative oversight to provide the weather situation assessment for all shift staff. Direct, plan, and implement improvements to the organization's operational functions, sharing responsibility for product standards of routine and complex products, along with staff training. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The work is generally sedentary, although there is considerable moving about among various desks and equipment. Routine duties require meeting tight deadlines. During periods of threatening weather or rapidly changing weather conditions, the increase in workload and the necessity for rapid dissemination of weather warnings and updates requires periods of acute mental alertness and produces considerable mental stress. Adverse weather conditions often require the senior forecaster to work hours longer than the usual shift, adding to mental and physical stress.

Qualifications

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://www.opm.gov/policy BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the 1340 series: EDUCATION: A. Degree: Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, or other natural science major that included: 1. At least 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of credit in meteorology/atmospheric science including a minimum of: Six semester hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics;* Six semester hours of analysis and prediction of weather systems (synoptic/mesoscale); Three semester hours of physical meteorology; and Two semester hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere and/or instrumentation. 2. Six semester hours of physics, with at least one course that includes laboratory sessions.* 3. Three semester hours of ordinary differential equations.* 4. At least nine semester hours of course work appropriate for a physical science major in any combination of three or more of the following: physical hydrology, statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, radiative transfer, aeronomy, advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science. * There is a prerequisite or corequisite of calculus for course work in atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, physics, and differential equations. Calculus courses must be appropriate for a physical science major. OR B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -AND- 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, 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. To qualify at the GS-14 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Analyzing and evaluating real-time meteorological or hydrologic data used for developing severe weather warnings or forecasts; Preparing and issuing severe weather warnings or forecast products to stakeholders and ensuring timely and accurate dissemination of information and products; and Identifying and recommending improvements to operational functions such as policies and procedures.

Requirements

Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Additional Information. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. 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. Additional Considerations: One year probationary period may be required. Payment of relocation expenses (PCS) may be authorized. This position requires Moderate Risk Security Clearance. Background investigation will be required. Continued employment is subject to applicant's successful completion of security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, for those required to serve a 1-year probationary period, we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: Your performance and conduct; Needs and interests of the agency; Whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and Whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of then Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. 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.

Education

NOTE: Applicants currently occupying a 1340 series position in the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and applying under competitive merit promotion procedures are covered under the "Exception" clause and DO NOT need to submit transcripts.Substitution of education for specialized experience is not applicable to this vacancy. College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), name of accredited institution, course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken. Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty. 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: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the blue "Apply Online" button. 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. As a registered user, select a stored resume and select one or more of your stored documents to attach to your application. Check the "Certification" box and click the "Apply for this position now!" button located at the bottom of the screen. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. If you experience technical difficulties during the online application process, please contact the USAJOBS helpdesk Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.