Health Physicist

NASA•Moffett Field, California• Full Time

Posted 7 hours ago• Business & Finance• Mechanical

Compensation

$157,236–$197,200/year

Job Description

Summary

You will serve as the Radiation Safety Officer in the Occupational Safety, Health and Medical Services Division at NASA Ames Research Center. In this role, you will collaborate with scientists and engineers whose research involves the use of radioisotopes, X-ray generating equipment, high energy lasers, and other non-ionizing radiation sources to ensure that the research can be performed safely and in compliance with applicable regulations and NASA policies.

Open & closing dates

04/06/2026 to 04/10/2026

Salary $157,236 - $197,200 per year Pay scale & grade GS 14

Location

Who Can Apply

This position is open to: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) - Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or a "displaced" employee and Veterans who are eligible for Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

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Duties

Ensures that the use of radioactive material is in conformity with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Materials License, applicable government regulations, and with the Center's policies.
Analyzes all radiological hazards associated with each new research project.
Maintains the Health Physics records of the Center and ensure that they are in compliance.
Investigates accidents and procedural safety violations for ionizing and nonionizing radiation projects.
Maintains occupational radiation doses and doses to members of the public that are as low as is reasonably achievable
Performs an initial review of all nonionizing radiation projects with the capability of emitting hazardous levels of energy for safety and compliance to applicable standards and regulations.
Inspects nonionizing radiation systems to verify compliance to all applicable nonionizing radiation safety requirements
Ensures training for users of radioisotopes, radiation generating equipment, and nonionizing radiation sources (e.g. lasers, radars) is available and provided to personnel using these sources.
Ensures that radioactive material purchases are in conformance with NRC license requirements.
Collects radioactive waste generated in laboratories and prepare it for transport to an approved waste disposal site via an approved shipper

Requirements

This position may require a one-year probationary/trial period. If selected, the requirement to serve such period will be determined by Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 11. **See Additional Information section**
Current Federal employees must meet qualifications, time in grade, and 90 days after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
Position subject to pre-employment background investigation.
This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

To qualify for GS-14, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level:

Leading the planning and implementation of programs to ensure the safe use of sealed and unsealed sources of radioactive material and radiation emitting equipment, such as, X-ray machines in a research environment;
Leading the planning and implementation of programs to ensure the safe use of high energy lasers in a research environment and;
Serving as a technical advisor to senior leadership as an independent technical authority to enforce applicable regulatory requirements.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process.

Basic Requirement:

You must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher that included a major in natural science or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus.

OR

Have a combination of education and experience: Courses as shown above, plus appropriate experience or other education; or certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to that described in paragraph A.

U.S. degrees must have been awarded from colleges or universities that are accredited by recognized accrediting organizations. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, go to http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

All degrees must have been received in the year of, or any year subsequent to the original date of accreditation.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements outlined in this vacancy announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be reviewed in conjunction with your responses to the assessment questionnaire. As part of the assessment, your responses to the Written Interview prompts will be scored and used to place you into one of three quality groups. These scores, along with your qualifications and supporting materials, will determine your referral status. Please ensure your application materials and responses accurately reflect your experience and competencies, as misrepresentation may result in removal from consideration.

These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments. They may also be evaluated during a structured interview:

Attention to Detail
Health Physics
Technical Competence
Technology Application

NASA considers 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.

Under NASA's quality grouping process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three groups identified and defined below:

Best Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
Highly Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Candidates eligible for ICTAP/CTAP, reemployment priority or priority consideration will be referred before other candidates, as necessary. If no such candidates apply or are eligible to be referred, the following candidates will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration:

Best Qualified merit promotion candidates. Highly Qualified merit promotion candidates may also be referred, if additional candidates are needed.
Qualified candidates eligible for consideration under Schedule A or VRA in accordance with veterans' preference rules, as applicable.
Qualified candidates that are eligible for special hiring authorities or non-competitive hiring authorities.

NASA will not ask you to disclose criminal history record information during the application process or before we make a conditional/tentative offer of employment. If you apply for this position and are selected, NASA will conduct a suitability/security background investigation after you accept a tentative job offer. If you feel you are asked to disclose your criminal history before you accept a tentative offer and wish to file a complaint within 30 days, please contact: [email protected].

Required Documents

All submitted resumes must not exceed two (2) pages in length. Resumes longer than two pages will be rejected by USAJOBS. Applicants are strongly encouraged to prioritize including experience and relevant qualifications that directly align with the position advertised. All work experience and accomplishments must be associated with dates (month/year) to allow for accurate qualification assessment.

A complete application package includes a resume, required documents and completion of the vacancy announcement questionnaire. Please see this guidance: . Your resume should describe your specialized experience and support your answers to the vacancy announcement questionnaire. If you are using a Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a resume, it must meet all requirements listed above for a complete resume package.

Please note: if any of the following types of information are included on your resume, your application package will be disqualified:

Classified or government sensitive information.
Social Security Number (SSN)
Photos of yourself
Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
Encrypted and digitally signed documents.

If your resume contains any of the above information, you must redact that information prior to the submission of your application.

The following documents are required:

Resume
Transcript

As listed above in the Education section above, this position has a basic education requirement.

To be found qualified, you must provide a copy of your college transcript that fully demonstrates you meet the requirements listed in the Education section. You may provide either an unofficial transcript or a copy of an official transcript. Failure to provide a complete copy of your college transcript that shows you have completed a required degree program or coursework may result in you being found not qualified.

You may need to submit other supporting documents (Notification of Personnel Action SF-50, licenses, certification, veterans preference, etc.), depending on your answers to the questionnaire and job announcement description, that you may have to submit, please verify your application. Do not submit an OF-306 with your application.

If you are a surplus or displaced employee (CTAP and ICTAP), submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP. This includes copies of your agency notice, most recent Performance Rating and most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

If you are a veteran and you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. For more information on veterans' preference and possible other supporting documents that you may have to submit, please visit FedshireVets.

If you are applying for consideration under the Military Spouse Appointing Authority, you must provide:

Spouse of a member of the armed forces on active duty: documentation showing 1) your spouse's active duty status and 2) your marriage to the member of the armed forces (i.e., a marriage certificate or other legal documentation verifying marriage).
Spouse of service members who incurred a 100% disability because of the service member's active duty service: documentation showing 1) the member of the armed forces retired, or was released or discharged from active duty, with a disability rating of 100 percent; and 2) documentation of marriage to the member of the armed forces (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage).
Spouse of service members killed while on active duty: documentation showing 1) the member was released or discharged from active duty due to his or her death while on active duty; 2) the member of the armed forces was killed while serving on active duty; 3) proof of the widow or widower's marriage to the member of the armed forces (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage); and 4) a statement certifying that the individual seeking to use the authority is the un-remarried widow or widower of the service member.

Official documents are required at the time of appointment for verification of eligibility and qualifications.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.