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Summary This position is located in Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Engineering and External Hazards (DEX), External Hazards Branch (EXHB). The supervisor is Barbara Hayes This position IS subject to Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements. This position IS subject to security ownership restriction reporting requirements Responsibilities The successful candidate will perform the full range of duties. Such duties include but are not limited to: Provides technical, programmatic, and project leadership in the area of surface and/or groundwater hydrology to the agency. Serves as a Senior Hydrologist with special emphasis in applying hydrology to the safety and environmental review of nuclear power plant licensing activities including design certifications, early site permits, combined operating licenses, license renewals, material facilities, spent nuclear fuel transportation and storage licenses, decommissioning reviews, and other licensing actions. Manages both the safety and environmental review process for siting, licensing, and decommissioning activities for reactor and material facilities. Takes a lead role in development of new regulations and guidance. Serves as a technical witness at public hearings representing the NRC in the area of hydrology. As assigned, manages complex technical safety and/or environmental evaluations associated with new reactor applications, license renewal or amendment applications for operating nuclear power plants, and material facilities and decommissioning applications that may be highly complex or controversial. Relies on the management directives, office instructions, rules, regulations, and procedures in carrying out assigned duties. Ensures that NRC's strategic objectives of protecting public health and safety and the environment, promoting national security, and providing for regulatory actions that are effective, efficient, and open are considered in all efforts. Requires limited supervision to act within the framework of the functional statement. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship Required This is a Drug Testing position. Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires. You must meet the qualifications for this position by no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position. Selectees may be required to serve a trial period to assess their overall fitness and qualifications for continued employment. The trial period for new employees is two years. New employees who are preference eligible veterans serve a one-year trial period. All information in your resume must be true and accurate. Qualifications In order to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following: 1. Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in the field of hydrology as related to site characterization relevant to siting nuclear facilities and hazard evaluations including the use of runoff and hydraulic models, and evaluation of local intense precipitation, riverine and dam failure related flooding, and coastal flood hazards. (Example: Describe work experience, education, and training which demonstrate your abilities, and your knowledge related to site characterization relevant to siting nuclear facilities and evaluation of external hydrologic hazards). 2. Demonstrated knowledge and experience relevant to dam safety, dam safety inspections and Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety. (Example: Describe work experience, education, and training which demonstrate your abilities, and your knowledge related to dam safety and related programs at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Us Bureau of Reclamation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety and on the National Dam Safety Review Board quarterly meetings.) 3. Demonstrated of and/or experience with NRC regulations, regulatory guides, and risk-informed approaches that support innovations in safety reviews appropriate for the changing size and technology of new reactor applications such as probabilistic flood hazard analysis, probabilistic risk assessments, and graded approaches. (Example: Describe specific experience, training, and accomplishments which demonstrate your knowledge of NRC safety related regulations, NRC related processes such as probabilistic approaches, weather and hydrology data sources related to both green and brownfield sites, and industry standards including any reference to the ADVANCE Act of 2024 or EO 14300 related to reforming the NRC. Include several examples of such work and describe the complexity of the issue.) 4. Demonstrated ability to prioritize, plan, schedule, and manage complex technical projects involving interdisciplinary teamwork with technical experts in the fields of external hazards including contracted resources. (Example: Describe specific experience and accomplishments which demonstrate your ability prioritize, plan, schedule and manage complex technical projects involving interdisciplinary teams with expertise relevant to hydrologic characterization and hazard evaluation as well as experience as a Contracting Officer Representative. Include several specific examples of projects performed and describe the complexity of the work, and your role in organizing and accomplishing the work, and the nature of the interdisciplinary interactions.) 5. Demonstrated ability and significant history presenting hydrologic characterization and hazard information both orally and in writing on complex technical issues. Work assignments demonstrate ability to lead technical discussions, represent the agency with external stakeholders develop resolution of challenging technical issues, document and provide recommendations to management. Describe experience interacting with management, staff, technical advisory bodies (e.g. NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards) and representatives of industry (Example: Describe volume and complexity of specific experience as well as training, and accomplishments which demonstrate your ability to effectively communicate complex technical issues related to hydrologic characterization and hazards and dam safety regulation as well as a high level representation on hydrologic and dam failure topics. Describe your ability to prepare written documents such as safety evaluations, significant event briefings, or input to inspection related reports. Provide several specific examples of both written and oral communication and describe the audience, the nature and complexity of the issue, and the outcome of such communication.) SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as: demonstrated knowledge of runoff and hydraulic models, evaluation of local intense precipitation, riverine and dam failure related flooding, coastal flood hazards, dam safety and inspections, and probabilistic approaches. A description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate should be addressed in your resume. The NRC encourages applicants to provide extensive job experience details in your resume. Applicants may also use the supplemental vacancy question to provide additional information pertaining to the specialized experience and ideal candidate criteria. PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Education Basic Requirements: Degree: physical or natural science, or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in any combination of courses in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soils, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources. The course work must have included at least 6 semester hours in calculus (including both differential and integral calculus), and at least 6 semester hours in physics. Calculus and physics, as described above, are requirements for all grade levels. OR Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Evaluation of Experience: Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems. The following is illustrative of acceptable experience: field or laboratory work that would require application of hydrologic theory and related sciences such as geology, geo-chemistry, geophysics, or civil engineering to making observations, taking samples, operating instruments, assembling data from source materials, analyzing and interpreting data, and reporting findings orally and in writing. In some cases, professional scientific experience that is not clearly water resource experience may be acceptable if such experience was preceded by appropriate education in hydrology or by professional hydrology experience. Applicants with related experience in hydrology gained through earlier Federal Government employment might have gained that experience in one or more occupational series. Such series include Soil Conservation, GS-457; Forestry, GS-460; Soil Science, GS-470; Civil Engineering, GS-810; Chemistry, GS-1320; Meteorology, GS-1340; and Geology, GS-1350. Comparable non-Federal experience may be given similar credit. You must include an unofficial or official copy of your college and/or university transcripts with your application. Transcript must include the School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). Education must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of credibility of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. If you have multiple degrees (e.g., BS, MS, PhD) please submit transcripts for each degree. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://www.ed.gov/accreditation. Additional Information The duty location of this position is (Rockville, MD). This position may be eligible for situational telework in accordance with the agency policy. Individuals who are eligible for non-competitive appointment under an OPM special appointing authority may apply for consideration under a comparable NRC non-competitive appointing authority. Veterans, please visit: FedsHireVets The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the coordinator at (301) 287-0745 or TDD 240-482-3217. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Selectee's will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine their suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. False statements or responses on your resume or questionnaire can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service. The NRC is a zero-tolerance agency with respect to illegal drug use. Individuals selected for these positions will be subject to pre-appointment drug testing. A transferable security clearance from another agency or a background investigation leading to a clearance is required for all new hires. To begin work at the NRC without a security clearance, you must be granted a temporary waiver of the required clearance, referred to as a 145(b) waiver. To be eligible for a 145(b) waiver you will need a favorable education verification, reference, credit, and criminal history checks. If a wavier is granted, the successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication is required for continued employment. If you have resided outside the U.S. for an extended period of time, the agency may not be able to (1) grant the 145(b) waiver where the required investigation cannot be completed in a timely manner, or (2) achieve timely completion of the background investigation required for a security clearance.