Branch Chief

Summary This position is located in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Reactor Oversight (DRO), Reactor Inspection Branch (IRIB). The supervisor is Philip McKenna. This position is Non Bargaining Unit. This position is subject to Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements. This position is subject to security ownership restriction reporting requirements Responsibilities As the Chief of the Reactor Inspection Branch, you will manage the NRC's oversight of commercial power reactors, including those under construction through inspection, policy development, coordination, implementation, assessment, and enhancement. This includes providing primary program management and supervision for the reactor oversight and construction reactor oversight processes (ROP) with an emphasis on improving the safety and risk focus of inspections and assessment activities. You will also oversee the development of inspection related program guidance for NRC inspections of commercial nuclear power facilities, including operating facilities and future advanced reactor oversight programs As a first-line supervisor, you will be responsible for implementing organizational change, supervising people, facilitating resolution of policy, technical, and administrative issues, and planning and executing activities within the Branch's scope of responsibilities. You will also be responsible for the administration of NRC human resources programs relative to employees under your supervision. You will assist the Division Director in the development and maintenance of operating plans, infrastructure documents, and policies. You will act as a change agent in the organization. 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. 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. Ability to direct, lead, and manage a diverse technical staff in mission-critical programs with competing deadlines, conflicting resource demands, and changing environments. Describe specific training, education, and experience that demonstrates your ability to manage a diverse workforce; create and foster a positive team environment within and across Branches, Divisions, and Offices; implement changes in practices and policies; identify personnel needs; select, motivate, and develop personnel; apply equal employment opportunity (EEO) principles and practices; balance work among employees; establish standards and evaluate performance; ensure adequacy of internal controls; identify labor market conditions affecting availability of resources; recognize potential; and delegate authority. 2. Ability to communicate information, ideas, and advice in a clear, concise, and logical manner, both orally and in writing, with colleagues, subordinates, NRC management in headquarters or regions, ACRS, the Commission, members of the public, representatives of professional groups, other Federal or State agencies, and international regulatory counterparts. Ability to build and sustain coalitions across organizations. Describe specific experience, training, and accomplishments which demonstrate communication skills and your ability to: use formal and informal networks to build support for programs; lead complex and technical discussions and consolidate complex and diverse opinions into concise, balanced and well-founded recommendations; and communicate effectively in work relationships with subordinates, peers, management, government or industry officials, and/or international regulatory body counterparts to develop solutions to regulatory problems and issues. Describe the kinds of oral and written presentations you have made to represent agency positions to others and complex technical documents you have developed. Describe what editorial review of work prepared by technical staff you have conducted, if any. 3. Knowledge of the applicable NRC rules, regulations, policies, practices, and procedures for governing implementation of the reactor oversight process (ROP) and nuclear reactor systems regulatory reviews through familiarity with codes and standards, regulatory guides, and practices. Knowledge and ability to apply effective decision making using available information and risk insights. Describe specific experience, education, and training which demonstrate your knowledge of the applicable NRC rules, regulations, policies, practices, and procedures for governing implementation of the reactor oversight process (ROP), including regulatory guides, industry codes, and standards. Provide specific examples of how you have applied and interpreted rules, Executive Orders, regulatory guides, industry codes, standards and other criteria. 4. Demonstrated expert knowledge of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) reactor oversight process (ROP) including risk significance determination as applied to operating, construction, and decommissioning commercial nuclear reactor power plant inspections, operations, maintenance, engineering, and plant support areas of performance. Describe your experience with the NRC’s ROP at commercial nuclear reactor facilities. Describe substantive experience in applying inspection knowledge (e.g, observe, identify issues, evaluate, and assess overall performance in) to operating, construction and decommissioning, commercial nuclear power plant performance assessments. Describe experience in applying the Significance Determination Process (SDP) and risk-informed decision making in power reactor oversight. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as: experience that demonstrates expert knowledge of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's reactor oversight process (ROP) and associated inspection and other programs and regulations pertaining to the regulatory oversight of operating commercial nuclear power reactor facilities. 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. Education 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. GG-0801 (General Engineering Series): 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: 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.) You must meet OPM’s basic education and professional knowledge requirements that apply to Federal engineering and sciences positions for the grade levels to which you are applying. This knowledge is met by having a bachelor's or higher degree in a relevant professional engineering/science discipline from a school of engineering with at least one engineering curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (or by documenting how you meet the minimum OPM qualification standards for the 800 Occupational Series. GG-1301, (General Physical Science Series): Basic requirements: A. 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. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Additional Information The duty location of this position is Rockville, Maryland. In general, employees are expected to be in the office at a minimum of 4 days per pay period. Telework schedules, including full-time telework, are approved, on a case-by-case basis. If selected, telework will be determined in accordance with Agency policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, if applicable.