Federal

Program Manager (Director, Governmental Affairs)

National Nuclear Security Administration ยท Department of Energy
๐Ÿ“ Washington, District of Columbia EN-5 $203,124 - $209,600/yr
Posted: Jul 7, 2026 Deadline: Jul 13, 2026 (Closes in 5 days)

About This Position

This position is part of the Deputy Administrator for Naval Reactors, Department of Energy. The Deputy Administrator for Naval Reactors is also the Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) and the Deputy Commander, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Directorate, Naval Sea Systems Command. Responsibilities for this Program area are contained in Executive Order 12344 of 1 Feb 1982, which is codified in 42 U.S.C. ยง7158 and 50 U.S.C. ยงยง 2401 and 2406.

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level of GS-15 or NQ-04 in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting ALL of the following: Experience with multi-federal agency requirements for planning, programming, and budgeting. Experience with presentation, submission, formulation and justification with budget requests for nuclear power related programs.

Experience with preparing leadership for annual testimony and high-level hearings and engagements with members of Congress, government officials, and their staff. Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.

Your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred. 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.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Time-In-Grade/Band: Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade/time-in-band requirements to be eligible for consideration. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Duties (be specific in describing your duties, we cannot make assumptions regarding your experience) Employer's name and address Supervisor name and phone number Start and end dates including month, day and year (e.g.

June 18 2007 to April 05 2008) Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position. Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week) Salary You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Major Duties

As a Program Manager (Governmental Affairs), you will: Educate and inform Cabinet level officials, Senators, and Representatives on technical and fiscal matters pertaining to naval nuclear propulsion to ensure funding and future-year budget support for naval nuclear propulsion activities. Develops policy statements and assembles data analyses for use by the Director and senior management in meetings with Members of Congress and Congressional staffs to present programmatic information or respond to issues raised concerning Program budgets and technical funding. Collaborates with senior managers to identify program issues, implications of strategic policy implementation or changes, and impacts of Congressional and other external actions on program "corporate" goals and financial positions.

Represents the Director, NNPP in frequent briefings and contacts with Members of Congress, Professional Staff Members of Congressional Committees, and the personal staffs of Members of Congress. Serves as the principal liaison with the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office, and Congress on all matters pertaining to naval nuclear propulsion. Coordinates the work of senior managers within the directorate and its field offices to identify, document, and resolve issues relating to the NNPP, its facilities and organizations, and war-fighting vessels, which warrant or could potentially warrant Congressional or cabinet level attention.

Possesses knowledge of select engineering concepts as well as practices and principles of naval nuclear propulsion engineering sufficient to provide consultative service to the management of major NNPP development programs (e.g., the design and development of nuclear-powered ships, etc.,). Presents and defends Government Furnished Equipment and Propulsion Plant Research and Development cost estimates included in Navy shipbuilding budgets totaling more than $3 billion annually. Evaluates strategies and planning to ensure compliance with legislation and Congressional guidance, and consistency with future mission strategies.

Education

For more information on qualification requirements, please click OPM Qualification Standards.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements above. How You Will Be Evaluated THE APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS WILL BE IN TWO STAGES: Minimum Qualifications: Once the application process is complete, the Human Resources Office and/or Subject Matter Expert will review the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation to determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications. Structured Resume Review: The Human Resources Office and/or Subject Matter Expert will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications.

Additional documentation (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) may not be considered.

Your application and resume shall demonstrate that you possess the following: Communication Planning and Evaluating Project Management Technical Competence Technical Credibility Do not provide a separate narrative written statement. Rather, you must describe in your application how your past work experience demonstrates that you possess the Competencies identified above. Cite specific examples of employment or experience contained in your resume and describe how this experience has prepared you to successfully perform the duties of this position.

DO NOT write "see resume" in your application. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified'.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (07/13/2026) of this announcement. Shared Certificates: The Department of Energy shares lists of applicants among its internal Departmental Elements and organizations.

You may be referred for consideration to other DOE Hiring Managers throughout the Department for more than one position based on this application. By applying to this announcement, you understand your application materials may be shared with multiple Hiring Mangers throughout DOE. If additional positions are filled from this announcement conditions of employment may differ.

You will be notified if you are referred for additional positions. To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12996766.

Additional Information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated.

Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration. The Fair Chance Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged noncompliance by completing the Fair Chance Act Intake Form and submitting it to the Administrative Investigations Program at [email protected].

EEO Policy: Click HERE. Reasonable Accommodation Policy: Click HERE. Veterans Information: Click HERE. Telework: Click HERE. Selective Service Registration: Click HERE. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the announcement closing date to receive consideration.

The application process is as follows: You must have a login.gov account to sign into USAJOBS: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/. To begin the application process in USAJOBS, click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all required and supporting documentation.

You must click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 pm (ET) on the announcement closing date. Resume Requirements Your two (2) page RESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date). If you submit a resume longer than two (2) pages, you will be ineligible for further consideration.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX).

We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.

Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

See "Guidance for Applicants on 2-Page Resume" and visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information.

You may update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period by returning to your USAJOBS account, select Update Application: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application, during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account; applications will appear on the Welcome screen.

The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each application status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. If you need help with login.gov or USAJOBS (e.g., account access, Resume Builder) visit the USAJOBS Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/ If you experience difficulty applying on USAJOBS, after clicking the Apply Online button, or you are experiencing a significant hardship hindering your ability to apply online, the Agency Contact listed in the announcement can assist you during normal business hours.

If you receive any system error messages, take screenshots if possible, to aid technical support.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes: Your two (2) page RESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date). If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.

Your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX).

We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.

Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

See "Guidance for Applicants on 2-Page Resume" and visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information. Cover Letter, optional, expressing additional information not covered in your resume. Transcripts, if specific educational requirements are indicated in this job announcement.

Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements. Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable, DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.

For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information. Military Spouse, if applicable, Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders authorizing you to accompany the Military member to the new duty permanent station; OR verification of the member's 100% disability (VA Letter); and/or verification of the member's death while on active duty (DD-1300 and Death Certificate) AND verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage). For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center.

For more information about what to include in your resume, please view this USAJOBS Resume Tutorial video on YouTube.Naval Reactors will accept a resume in the format of your choice (as an attached document or as a USAJOBS Resume Builder format).

You will be notified at the time you click 'Apply Online' which type of resume is acceptable. It is important that you are complete and thorough in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume, we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.

If specific educational requirements are indicated for this vacancy: Documentation verifying your educational claims which can include unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned and final grade. Please see the Education section for more information. For Professional, Scientific and Engineering Positions: If qualifying on the basis of an alternate method, i.e., professional license, you must submit official documentation to support your claim with your application package.

If selected for the position you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to onboarding. Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Do not provide photos or list a Social Security Number or date of birth on any attachment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the salary for the Program Manager (Director, Governmental Affairs) position at National Nuclear Security Administration?
The salary range for this position is $203,124 - $209,600/yr. This is a EN-5 position on the General Schedule pay scale. Actual pay may vary based on locality adjustments.
Where is the Program Manager (Director, Governmental Affairs) job located?
This position is located in Washington, District of Columbia. This is an on-site position.
What qualifications do I need?
For more information on qualification requirements, please click OPM Qualification Standards.
How do I apply for this position?
Apply through USAJobs.gov by clicking the 'Apply on USAJobs' button. You'll need a USAJobs account, a federal-style resume, and supporting documents. The deadline is Jul 13, 2026.
Is a security clearance required?
Yes, a Q Access Authorization clearance is required.
What benefits do federal employees receive?
Federal employees receive comprehensive benefits including health insurance (FEHB), retirement through FERS, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with government matching, paid annual and sick leave, paid parental leave, life insurance, and student loan repayment programs.