Summary

You will serve as a Geographer/Physical Scientist National Civil Applications Center.

This position serves as the Chief, Partnership Branch and concurrently as the Civil Applications Committee (CAC) Executive Secretary.

You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 2 to 3 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

GS-14 Salary $143,913 - $187,093. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Duties

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Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

• Advises the Civil Applications Committee (CAC) Chair, CAC Vice-Chair(s), and CAC Principal Members on policy and procedural issues related to access to and use of U.S. National Imaging System (USNIS) data and capabilities used to meet their agency's statutory missions.
• Plans and conducts CAC meetings and working groups and documents the CAC's decisions ensuring that proper oversight responsibilities and documentation is maintained that shows Federal Civil agency use of USNIS data follows applicable laws and Executive Orders and Office of the Director for National Intelligence, Intelligence Community (IC), and Department of War (DoW) regulations and policies.
• Oversees CAC member's requests for the collection of IC and DoW remotely sensed data to ensure the protection of Constitutional and other legal rights of U.S. persons and to ensure that such requests and the use of such data are consistent with the authorities and responsibilities of such organizations and are in accordance with authorized programs.
• Represents the CAC Chair and CAC Federal Civil agencies to National System for Geospatial Intelligence, DoW, and IC counterparts to enhance the development of advanced imagery acquisition systems, exploitation, and dissemination of data and information derived from USNIS.
• Supervises the Partnership Branch staff that also functions as the CAC Secretariat who assist the incumbent in managing the CAC, its activities, and the intergovernmental relationships necessary for successful collaboration.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/23/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

GS-0150:

• A. Degree: geography; or related physical or social science such as geology, meteorology, economics, statistics, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, cartography, computer science, urban studies, or planning that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields. You must submit transcripts.

-OR-

• B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in geography, or a related field that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must include transcripts

GS-1301:

• 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. You must include transcripts

-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. You must include transcripts

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-14 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: One year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal service, and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.
  Examples of such experience may include: Leading and managing interagency committees and working Groups; Executing policy oversight and compliance functions; Managing requests and processes for sensitive data collections; Representing an organization in high-level engagements.Experience as a senior expert in work for which technical problem definitions, methods and/or data were highly incomplete, controversial, or uncertain and whose evaluations and recommendations were accepted by others as those of a technical expert in remote sensing. At this level, scientists typically represent an authoritative source of consultation for other scientists and program specialists, are called upon to resolve issues that significantly affect science programs, make long range and controversial proposals and defend their findings and recommendations in public or high-level forums.
  You must include hours per week worked

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (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.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

This position has a mandatory education requirement.

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

Related Non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630).

All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, https://www.doi.gov/ethics/ethics-prohibitions.

Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level.

This is an interdisciplinary position. Position may be filled by: Geographer, GS-0150 or Physical Scientist, GS-1301

The duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

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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.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.