Aviation Safety Technician

Summary

Incumbent serves as a Aviation Safety Technician (AST) in a Flight Standards Office providing technical support to Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASl's) and the public. Performs or assists with a wide range of certification, surveillance, and investigation duties requiring research and evaluation in accordance with current FAA safety directives/orders.

Duties

• Tasks are performed following prescribed or established procedures to assist inspectors, investigators, and Flight Standards program officials in their fact-finding or program administration responsibilities and requires basic evaluative judgment. The work performed falls primarily in one of the following categories: (1) Inspections where determinations are based on visual or other specific inspection techniques and are made based on relatively clear-cut considerations such as the presence or absence of required documents or the obvious physical condition of an item or premises. These inspections are governed by specific procedures and serve as bases for action by compliance program officials. Typically, such work includes both initial and follow-up inspections including obtaining samples and performing well-established field tests, if appropriate. (2) Technical support to inspections or investigations such as searching for, gathering, screening, and providing factual information or explanations related to the subject of an inspection or investigation or to the compliance program itself. These tasks are performed following prescribed or established procedures to assist compliance inspectors, investigators, and program officials in their fact finding or program administration responsibilities. The work includes activities such as obtaining background information on subjects of inspections or investigations by means of record searches, structured interviews, automated information retrieval, telephone inquiries, or correspondence; providing information to authorized persons concerning the status of particular investigations; explaining licensing or other requirements, including exceptions or exemptions, to persons or organizations subject to regulations; compiling final investigative reports with necessary exhibits; and maintaining required administrative reports on topics such as manpower, case load, and case status. Work in investigating, inspecting, or advising individuals or organizations subject to Federal laws, regulations, or other mandatory guidelines to assure their understanding and compliance when such work requires considerable evaluative judgment is excluded from this position. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Technical Administration Provides technical knowledge and support to aviation safety inspectors, the general public, stakeholders, and airmen regarding a wide variety of aviation-related topics. Extracts safety data and information from FAA records to identify trends for items that affect aviation safety and enters technical findings in agency approved databases. This individual will provide technical assistance and/or support with certification, surveillance, investigation, and/or enforcement, examples include, but are not limited to: Certification Support - Provides technical support to ASl's during certification of operators and air agencies. - Reviews airmen certification files, submitted by designees for accuracy. - Reviews inspection authorization files for renewal eligibility. - Conducts Operational Color Vision Tests. - Reviews designee management system to determine renewal eligibility. - Compiles data for technical reports. Surveillance Support - Assists ASI's with surveillance of aviation events. - Assists in drafting and issuing waivers and authorizations. Investigation Support - Drafts Enforcement Investigative Reports (EIR) for review and final approval by an ASI - Acts as the Point of Contact (POC) for safety assets (PPE) related to accident investigations. Enforcement Support: Incumbent will be responsible for enforcement functions including: conducting violations, voluntary disclosure, suspect illegal charters, incidents, navigation and altitude deviation investigations. Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the FG-9, you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FV-E, GS-/FG-8 level. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience is: 1) demonstrated accomplishment in practical technical aviation operations; 2) experience in using computerized database systems; 3) experience in preparing technical reports; and 4) experience in researching, analyzing and providing recommendations. In addition, experience must also include the following: 1) experience in gathering and compiling aviation safety data; 2) experience in assisting in aviation investigations such as complaints, occurrences, incidents, accidents and/or violations. Please ensure you answer all questions and follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may impact rating or may result in not being considered for the job. Applicants should include examples of specialized experience in their work history. Qualifications must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. Security Requirements: Non-critical sensitive (2): This position requires completion & favorable adjudication of a Tier 3 (T3) background investigation prior to appointment, unless a waiver is obtained and approved.

Requirements

We are not accepting applications from noncitizens.

Education

Education may not be substituted for experience at these grade levels.

How to apply

Applicants may be required to complete one or multiple assessments as part of the evaluation process. This assessment aims to evaluate the competencies and qualifications essential for the position. You must apply online to receive consideration. Your application must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the Close Date for it to be accepted. If you are applying for positions associated with FAA registers, your application must be submitted at the time a referral list is created in order to receive consideration for positions associated with a register. RESUMES ARE LIMITED TO TWO PAGES. IN DESCRIBING YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC AND INCLUDE INFORMATION AS IT RELATES TO THE QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Relevant work experience: should align to the Job Announcement and address all required qualifications and include job title, employer name, start/end dates, number of hours worked per week. Education, certification or licensure: If required, education should include school/institution name, completion date, degree type and GPA. Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide ALL of this information may result in a finding of ineligible. You may upload completed documents to your USAJOBS Account. This will provide you the opportunity to utilize the uploaded information again when applying for future vacancies. Amendment Date: 08/27/2026 Amendment Note: This announcement has been extended.