Branch Chief

Summary The positions are located in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Advanced Reactors and Nonpower Production and Utilization Facilities (DANU), Nonpower Production and Utilization Facilities Licensing Branch (UNPL). The supervisor is Jeremy Bowen. This position is Non Bargaining Unit. This position is not subject to Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements. This position is not subject to security ownership restriction reporting requirements Responsibilities The successful candidate will perform the full range of Branch Chief duties. Such duties include but are not limited to: As the Chief of UNPL, you will manage the licensing, rules, safety, and regulatory policy for non-power production and utilization facilities licensed under 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52. 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. Managing, supervising, and coordinating the work of a group of project managers in the licensing and management of regulatory actions for nonpower production and utilization facilities, and the development of associated regulations, guides, standards, and acceptance criteria. Ensures subordinates' understanding of organizational objectives, assignments, and priorities as derived from the strategic, operating, and performance plans. Articulates expectations to the Branch staff via formal means (e.g., elements and standards, performance appraisals) and informal means (e.g., staff meetings and ongoing, progressive one-on-one interactions). Provides periodic counseling and performance assessment of Branch staff, including mid-year performance reviews and annual performance appraisals. Allocating resources within the Branch based on the workload and priorities. Ensures plans and schedules are developed and maintained and result in the completion of assigned tasks. Ensures priorities are established using the relative safety and risk importance of each research activity. Implements Operating Plan milestones and ensures timely completion of assigned tasks. Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of assigned staff in determining appropriate utilization of resources for completing work. Reallocates resources within the Branch as necessary to achieve established outcome goals. Responsible for the day-to-day administrative operation of the Branch, including training, leadership, team building, motivation, development, and evaluation of Branch staff. Implementing change, fostering an innovative culture and transformative thinking with clear emphasis on the NRC's safety and security mission while providing for regulatory actions that are open, effective, efficient, realistic, and timely. Developing and presenting recommendations to senior-level NRR and NRC management on a wide variety of policy, technical, and administrative issues. Promptly informs Division management of developing significant issues. Assesses potential generic implications of technical or policy issues and forwards those issues for further agency action, as appropriate. Plans and recommends plans for licensing and associated regulatory actions for nonpower production and utilization facilities. Communicating both orally and in writing on complex technical problems and administrative issues with representatives from other NRR divisions and, NRC offices. Communicates both orally and in writing on issues within the scope of their responsibility with government agencies, contractors, industry representatives, Federal, State, and local officials, and members of the public. 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 or other Federal or State agencies. 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, and/or government or industry officials 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 either power reactors or similar regulated entities, including regulatory guides, industry codes and standards and other NRC criteria, and ability to interpret and apply these criteria. Knowledge and ability to apply effective decision making using available information and risk insights. Describe specific experience, education, and training in this area. Give specific examples of how you applied and interpreted policies, regulatory guides, industry codes, standards and other criteria. The focus of this rating factor is the breadth of your knowledge and experience in this area. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as experience that demonstrates a thorough knowledge of NRC programs with emphasis in one or more of the following areas: reactor or research and test reactor operations, engineering support, radiation protection, safeguards, fuel cycle technology, risk assessment, rulemaking, NRC inspection and oversight programs and license renewal and environmental reviews. 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. 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. GG-0801 (General Engineering Series): 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 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.) GG-1301, (General Physical Science Series): Basic requirements: 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 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.