Phyiscal Scientist

**Duties**:
NSF Program Directors bear the primary responsibility for carrying out the agency's overall mission to support innovative and merit-reviewed activities in basic research and education that contribute to the nation's technical strength, security, and welfare. To fulfill this responsibility requires not only knowledge in the appropriate disciplines, but also a commitment to high standards, a considerable breadth of interest and receptivity to new ideas, a strong sense of fairness, good judgment, and a high degree of personal integrity.
- **Geobiology**:

- **Low-Temperature Geochemistry**:

- **Tectonics**:

- **Critical Minerals**:

- **Interdisciplinary Earth Sciences**

The responsibilities of the NSF Program Director include, for example, long-range planning and budget development, the administration of the merit review process and proposal recommendations, the preparation of press releases, feature articles and material describing advances in the research supported, and coordination and liaison with other programs in NSF, other Federal agencies and organizations. Additional duties and responsibilities include:
PROGRAM PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
- Maintains a healthy balance of support for all the needs of the research and education enterprise through program, division, directorate, Foundation, or interagency activities.
- Manages program resources to provide optimal appropriate scientific judgment to ensure integrity and consistency in the grant/declination process without conflict of interests, and with balance among appropriate sub-fields and institutions, and participation of all qualified scientists.
- Incorporates cross-directorate responsibilities into program administration.
- Manages an effective, timely merit review process, with attention to increasing the size and quality of the reviewer pools and insuring participation by women, minorities and disabled scientists.
- Provides scientific expertise, evaluation and advice for other programs in NSF, including international programs, and other research programs, and cross-directorate programs.
- Advises and assists in the development of short-and-long range plans, establishing goals and objectives for support of research programs.
- Plans the budget for the program/programs considering past, present and future fiscal years, allocates resources within the budget by distributing scarce resources among major competitive programs, and manages post-award evaluation.
- Controls waste, fraud and abuse.

REPRESENTATION, COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP
- Represents the Program, Division and the Foundation within the scientific community, with other NSF Divisions, with other appropriate agencies and organizations, and with the public, accurately reflecting NSF policy and positions.
- Creates and maintains linkages to other NSF units and other Federal agencies in pursuit of the overall NSF mission.
- Participates in staff, panel, committee and other meetings, providing input relevant to program area and/or Division.
- Pursues affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) goals.
- Pursues and/or is responsive to assignment on special projects and temporary function teams across the Foundation to solve problems, improve staff communication, and effect coordination for special programs.
- Contributes ideas and effort to improving the quality of policies and NSF's performance of the overall mission.
- Develops policies and plans for strengthening support of research and education programs.
- Provides information to the community on how NSF is pursuing its mission and gathers data and impressions from the community on the effectiveness of NSF's performance of its mission.
- Prepares and disseminates a variety of informational documents which may include data on progress being made toward NSF goals, trends and opportunities, and budget plans.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Establishes contacts and maintains active involvement in Program and related areas through participation in professional activities.
- Maintains familiarity with salient current research developments.
- Pursues individual research as workload and travel funds permit.
- Expands administrative capabilities through training courses or assumption of new management.

**Requirements**:
**Conditions of Employment**:
**This position is outside the competitive civil service.**

You must meet eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

This position is in the bargaining unit represented by AFGE Local 3403

**Qualifications**:
**Education**:
Please refer to the Qualifications section.

If your degree was obtained from a foreign institution, please also submit the certification from the Association for International Credential Evaluation Professionals, or certification equivalency.

**Additional information**:
Relocation expenses MAY be paid contingent upon the availability of funds.

It is NSF policy that NSF personnel employed at or IPAs detailed to N