About This Position
Click on "Learn more about this agency" button below to view Eligibilities being considered and other IMPORTANT information. The primary purpose of this position is to provide developmental experience designed to broaden the skills and/or enhance the leadership perspective of an identified high potential manager / executive candidate; it is not a continuing position and assignment duration is NTE 36 months.
Qualifications
This is an Interdisciplinary position that can be filled as a General Engineer (0801), Computer Engineer (0854), Aerospace Engineer (0861), Electronics Engineer (0855), Physical Scientist (1301), Operations Research (1515), or a Computer Scientist (1550). In order to qualify, you must meet the specialized experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, BASIC REQUIREMENT OR INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT: SERIES 0801 / 0854 / 0855 / 0861 Degree: engineering or engineering technology. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in engineering or engineering technology from a program that is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) 1 ; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than firstyear 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.
SERIES 1301 Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. SERIES 1515 Degree: in operations research; or at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses requiring substantial competence in college-level mathematics or statistics. At least 3 of the 24 semester hours must have been in calculus.
SERIES 1550 Bachelor's degree in computer science or bachelor's degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. FEDERAL TIME-IN-GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT FOR GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) POSITIONS: Applicants must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-13 or higher grade (or equivalent in an alternate pay system) within the Federal Civil Service to be considered for referral.
TIG applies if you are in a current GS position or held a GS position within the previous 52 weeks. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: 1. Demonstrated knowledge of development planning, technology maturity assessments, life cycle systems integration, and the technological foundations for effective development of program technical assessment strategies.
- Ability to persuade others to accept recommendations, works toward an agreement, and negotiate mutually acceptable solutions.
- Ability to organize work, set priorities, and determines resource requirements; determine goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinate with other organizations or parts of the organization; monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the DoW and Air Force acquisition processes.
- Ability to estimate technical scope to include cost and schedule.
- Graduate level education in systems engineering, cost analysis, technical planning and assessment or related areas and a master's degree in a technical/engineering specialty or equivalent experience in high tech product development and life cycle management is preferred.
Major Duties
DUTY 1: Performs Career Broadening assignments involving initiating and developing Air Force policy and recommends approval and implementation. DUTY 2: Represents the U.S. Department of War, Air Force, SAF/AQ, and Directorate as appropriate.
May include serving as the United States representative on DoW, intergovernmental, international treaty, coalition partners, or nongovernment organizations. Initiates actions and interacts with officials throughout Government and Industry technical communities to assure that policy, procedures and guidance documents effectively support Defense and Air Force needs. DUTY 3: Independently carries out special projects and assignments designed specifically to meet the broadening intent of the position.
Represents the concerns of the Air Force at meetings and conferences; prepares staff studies and various documents to meet special needs; develops and presents oral presentation; leads and/or serves on steering committees.
Education
Please see Qualifications section for education requirements.
How You Will Be Evaluated
Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
Your responses to the questionnaire may be compared to the documents you submit. The documents you submit must support your responses to the online questionnaire. If your application contradicts or does not support your questionnaire responses, you will receive a rating of "not qualified" or "insufficient information" and you will not receive further consideration for this job.
Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further. APPRAISALS/AWARDS: Hiring Managers use objective methods and consider previous performance appraisals and awards in the selection process. Current Federal Civilian employees should list any relevant performance related rating and/or awards in your resume.
Additional Information
PCS restrictions: An employee selected to make a PCS to a Career Broadening assignment is restricted from making a second PCS for 12 months Defense National Relocation Program may be Authorized Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have direct deposit. Incentives: Recruitment and/or retention incentives may not be used. Disabled veteran leave is available to a Federal employee hired on/after 5 Nov 2016, who is a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more.
For more information, click here. If you have questions regarding this announcement and have hearing or speech difficulties click here. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE CAREER BROADENING OPPORTUNITY: The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Technology, Engineering, & ProductSupport (SAF/AQT), Pentagon, is seeking to fill multiple NH-04 S&E Career Broadener positions.
These entail a 36-month lateral reassignment or temporary promotion to NH-0801/1301/1501/1515-04. Upon completion of the career broadening assignment, the temporary promotion could lead to permanent promotion. Multiple opportunities exist, directly with SAF/AQT or as a detailee to SAF/AQT partner organizations.
SAF/AQT opportunities exist within the following Divisions: - Technology Maturation & Transition: lead the Programming, Planning, Budget, & Execution (PPBE) support for Air Force S&T, Development Planning, Technology Transition, Prototyping, and Experimentation; Mission Engineering implementation. - Engineering & Assessments: independent assessments to identify/evaluate a program's technical risks and inform acquisition milestone decisions; DAF Scientific Advisory Board oversight; cyber-security/resiliency to strengthen weapon systems, airworthiness policy, guidance, implementation; and systems security engineering. Detailee assignments to partner organizations include but are not limited to: - Air Force Test & Evaluation (AF/TE): budget/assessment support and advocacy, force development, and policy oversight for the test and evaluation enterprise - Air Force Studies and Analysis (SAF/SA): objective analysis and study support for decision making, plans, policies, and budgets for the DAF - Space Science, Technology, & Engineering (SAF/SQT): facilitate SAF/SQ's oversight and direction for space-related S&T activities, to include PPBE processes These are Action Officer / Staff Officer roles, requiring regular prep activities for SES/GO leadership for various engagements and aligning internal/external stakeholders.
How to Apply
The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/23/2026. To preview the Application Questionnaire, please click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12908627 To begin the process, click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account.
Follow the prompts to complete the application questionnaire. Please ensure you click the Submit My Application button at the end of the process. To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: 1.
Your Resume. If you submit more than one resume, only the most recent will be reviewed. The "most recent" is considered the resume with the latest timestamp. Resumes may not exceed two pages. The two-page resume ensures the most relevant experience is reviewed and considered, which is a common practice in both the public and private sectors.
Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Additional information on how to complete or update your resume may be located here. For qualification determination your resume must contain hours worked per week and dates of employment (i.e., month/year to month/year or month/year to present).
If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as insufficient, and you will not receive consideration for this position. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your pay plan, series and grade, i.e. GS-0301-09.
Current Federal Civilian Employees may list any relevant performance related rating (given within the last three years) and/or incentive awards in your resume. Do NOT include photographs, inappropriate material, inappropriate content, nor personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc., on your resume. If the resume you submit contains such information you will not be considered for this vacancy.
Your name, first and last, MUST be included on your resume.
- A complete Application Questionnaire
- Additional Required Documents (see Required Documents section). Ensure all submitted documents contain your full name.
- Help recruiters find you. Make your resume and profile searchable, which means recruiters may contact you about possible jobs. Additional information may be located here. PLEASE
NOTE: It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and/or uploaded, (i.e., resume) is received, accurate, and submitted by the closing date.
You may verify your documents have been processed with your application package successfully. You can access your USAJOBS account to do so by clicking here. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan. Human Resources WILL NOT modify or change any answers submitted by an applicant.
Required Documents
The following documents are required and must be provided with your application. Applicants who do not submit required documentation to determine eligibility and qualifications will be eliminated from consideration. Other documents may be required based on the eligibility/eligibilities you are claiming.
Click here to view the AF Civilian Employment Eligibility Guide and the required documents you must submit to substantiate the eligibilities you are claiming. Online Application: Questionnaire Resume: Your resume may NOT exceed two pages, and the font size should not be smaller than 10 pts.
You will not be considered for this vacancy if your resume is illegible/unreadable. Additional information on resume requirements can be located under "How To Apply". Transcripts/Registration/License: If qualifying on education/position requires education, you must submit copies of your transcripts and if required for the position, submit an active, current registration/license.
Current or Former Federal Civilian Employees (includes current Air Force employees): You must submit a legible copy of a SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action. The SF-50, block 24 must contain "1" or "2" AND block 34 must be a "1". Employees eligible under an OPM approved interchange agreement, block 34 may contain a "1" or "2".
Promotion Consideration: If you wish to be considered as a promotion candidate and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one-year time-in-grade requirements.
You will need to provide additional SF-50s which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-Grade, Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old). OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS: Transcripts/Certifications Performance Appraisals for Current Federal Civilian Employees - Most recent performance appraisals (dated within last 3 years) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Awards for Current Federal Civilian employees - List any awards received within the last 3 years on the resume.
Note: Applicant must not submit award Notification of Personnel Actions (SF50s).