Electronics Engineer
What you'd do
This position is located in the Technical Services directorate. The incumbent serves as an Electronics Engineer providing professional engineering services including, but not limited to, design and modifications to the electrical systems of FAA aircraft.
Major duties
Plans, accomplishes, and coordinates highly complex and challenging projects/programs and other work activities under the minimal direction of a manager, where precedents may not exist and specifications, criteria, and regulations are unclear. Evaluates state-of -the art technology, electronics engineering concepts, and potentially useful tests and evaluations internal and external to FAA. May act as a principal technical specialist or as a project/program manager or team leader for large work activities. Applies experience and comprehensive knowledge of engineering principles, theories, and concepts applicable aircraft safety economy of design, economy of design as well as an understanding new technologies and methodologies, to solve complex problems and to develop improved technical processes for the organization. Considers the objectives of the major subdivision and LOB/SO when developing, integrating and implementing solutions to diverse, complex problems. Assignments frequently require knowledge and experience working across functional and/or organizational lines. Typical assignments may include system design and integration; extensive research; development of major aircraft modifications and repairs, development of airborne equipment, analyzing symptoms of electronic problems, resolving, designing, implementing permanent solutions to operational systems and direct responsibility for project/program management. Assignments usually require use of a combination of standard engineering procedures and practices, establishing certification basis for aircraft modifications and repairs, demonstrating compliance with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Participates in the planning to achieve project objectives. Defines, plans, coordinates, organizes, and assigns resources to accomplish organizational objectives. Identifies and Allocates resources to accomplish large work activities within established schedules. Simultaneously tracks numerous engineering projects through completion. Develops aircraft modification, repair, and equipment based on customer requirements, system design and integration, extensive research. Prepare specifications and costs, engineering studies and analysis. Reviews contractor work, collects and analyzes data. Performs testing and evaluation of systems, equipment and processes and provides maintenance and operational support. Contacts are internal and external. Often represents FAA as a senior technical point of contact on projects, programs and other work activities. Communicates results to all levels internally (within an LOB/SO or across LOB/SOs) and externally. Plays a lead role in drafting, reviewing, and editing reports or contractual documents for final approval prior to external distribution. Presents briefings to obtain consensus/approval on policies. Coordinates significant technical matters with representatives of external organizations. Broad policies and objectives provide general guidance for addressing issues but allow considerable discretion to develop new and innovative approaches. Draws on experience to solve unusual problems and may create new solutions and policy interpretations as the situation requires. Provides policy guidance and instruction to others, both internally and externally. Provides guidance to lower-level staff to solve difficult technical issues. Draws on experience to solve unusual problems. May create new solutions and policy interpretations as the situation requires. Develops plans, techniques, and policies to address current or anticipated problems and issues. Works with senior management to solve problems. Work is reviewed rarely, typically though status reports and at project completion, to ensure technical compliance and alignment with the requirements of the project or other work activity. Work activities typically impact directly on the objectives of one or more major subdivisions and/or LOB/SOs and may impact on the objectives of the FAA.
What you need to qualify
BASIC REQUIREMENTS A. 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 B. 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: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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). AND To qualify for this position at the FV-J (FG/GS-14) level, in addition to the Basic Requirements you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to FV-I (FG/GS-13) 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 includes experience applying comprehensive knowledge of engineering principles, theories and concepts relating to the design and modification of electrical systems on aircraft, aircraft safety, economy of design, maintenance, production and repair of aircraft. Experience planning and coordinating projects and programs in areas where precedents may not exist and specifications, criteria, and regulations are vague. Applicants should include examples of specialized experience in their work history. Qualifications must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
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