ENGINEER

Duties

• You will serve as an Embedded Software Developer within the Unmanned and Expeditionary Weapon Systems Division of Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.
• You will develop and modify software by implementing, testing, and maintaining embedded code in C, C++, and Java for new and existing weapon control systems based on established designs and requirements
• You will analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan the development of new software or modifications to existing software.
• You will contribute to system design by collaborating with system engineers, senior engineers, and other team members to understand project requirements, limitations, performance needs, and system interfaces.
• You will perform hardware and software integration by writing and testing software that directly interfaces with microcontrollers, sensors, and other electronic hardware.
• You will validate system performance by developing and executing unit tests and integration testing to verify that software meets all technical and functional requirements.
• You will debug and troubleshoot hardware-software interfaces at a low level using tools, such as an oscilloscope, logic analyzers, etc.
• You will be conducting network stack integration and socket programming using your knowledge of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite.
• You will diagnose and resolve network-related issues, including network configuration, connectivity, and data transmission problems.
• You will support installation and assessment of software locally and at external locations.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• This is a Cyberspace Workforce position, work role code 621, proficiency level (B) Basic the incumbent is required to obtain and maintain qualifications in DoDM 8140.03 Cyber Workforce Qualification and Department of Navy policies.
• This position is covered under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA). Certification in the Acquisition Functional Area and category assigned to the position is required within established category timeframes.
• This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.

Qualifications

Your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-03 pay band (GS-09 through GS-11 equivalency) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: as a professional engineer demonstrating experience in embedded software development. This includes experience in implementing, testing, and debugging firmware for embedded systems, including familiarity with version control systems (e.g. Git) and integrated development environments (IDEs); working with microcontrollers or microprocessors; and using common communication protocols.

Examples of qualifying experience may include:

• Skill in programming with C,C++, or Java for embedded systems, using common development tools like an IDE, debugger, and version control software (e.g., Git).
• Experience writing or modifying firmware for microcontrollers or microprocessors. This includes understanding datasheets to interact with hardware and working with communication protocols.
• Experience with implementing, testing, and debugging software modules based on established software designs and requirements. Experience should include writing unit tests or participating in system integration testing.
• Ability to troubleshoot and debug issues. The includes using diagnostic tools such as an oscilloscope or logic analyzer to help isolate the root cause of failures.
• Familiarity with working within a structured development environment. This could include following team coding standards, participating in code reviews, and documenting work.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet at least one of the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual:

For the 0854 Professional Computer Engineering Series:

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

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:

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.

Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

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.

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.)

Additional information

The Secretary of Defense has ordered a department-wide hiring freeze subject to certain limited exceptions. This position is subject to the DoD hiring freeze. Offers of employment related to this vacancy announcement will not be executed until the position has an approved exemption.

This position is part of the Warfare Centers Personnel Demonstration Project. The ND-4 pay band encompasses positions equivalent to GS-12 and GS-13.

This announcement uses the STRL Bachelor Degree direct hire authority to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Several vacancies may be filled.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: .

Veteran's preference does not apply when selecting individuals under this specific hiring authority. However, if you claim veteran's preference, you will be required to submit supporting documentation with your application as described in the Required Documents section below.