Lead Accountant

NASA•Multiple Locations• Full Time

Posted 6 hours ago• Business & Finance• Mechanical

Compensation

$125,776–$197,200/year

Job Description

Summary

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer at the Armstrong Flight Research Center seeks a skilled individual to serve as the Lead Accountant for the Finance and Accounting Branch. This role is responsible for assisting the Deputy Chief Financial Officer in monitoring the functions of the office and leading a team of accountants to include all areas such as Standard General Ledger, Quality Assurance, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Travel and Costing.

Open & closing dates

03/27/2026 to 04/02/2026

Salary $125,776 to - $197,200 per year

Salary range reflects the lowest and highest potential salaries of NASA locations. Actual salary range varies by selectee(s) location.

Pay scale & grade GS 14

Locations

Who Can Apply

Current NASA federal employees serving on a career, career-conditional, Schedule A for individuals with disabilities, or NASA term appointment that provides eligibility to convert to a permanent appointment.

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Duties

Creates long-range/daily operating plans to meet changing work situations and programs that require frequent and extensive reconciliation to achieve internal consistency for valid reporting and analyses.
Develops new/revises existing policy statements, regulatory guidelines, operating programming documents, and procedural directives which govern unstable operating programs or major Agency programs having numerous goals or end products.
Develops strategies for planning and implement financial policies, procedures and management controls for the Center/Agency; provides seasoned financial advice to management officials for proper program and/or institutional planning.
Exercises considerable judgment and ingenuity in advocating the benefits of implementing business-driven quality and process improvement approaches.
Leads numerous and diverse financial management projects for a wide variety of highly complex and critical decision-making processes involving program planning, procurement, contracting, budgetary actions, and financial resources.
Leads the team in identifying, distributing, and balancing workload among employees; arranging for team member training; monitors and reports on the status and progress of work.

Requirements

This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
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.
Financial Disclosure, Drug Testing, and/or the Travel Requirements for this position may differ and be required based on the duty location/NASA Center requirements.
Position subject to higher-level clearance. Investigation/Clearance may differ and be required based on the duty location/NASA Center requirements.
Selected applicant(s) must be assigned to a duty location listed on the announcement. Selectee(s) will be required to work ON-SITE at the duty location selected.

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:

Participating on a financial team providing financial and/or accounting guidance on process and policy issues and;
Applying federal accounting principles, practices and/or procedures in order to review, interpret and
Applying professional accounting standards, concepts, policies and requirements in accordance with Federal and Agency guidelines.

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 degree.

A. 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 degree that included a major in accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing")
OR
B. Have a combination of education and experience: Have at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge.
Your background must also include one of the following:

24 semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law.
A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or
Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) you have successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that you have demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, your education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

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.

Assessment preview link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12920248

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

Customer Service
Decision Making
Problem Solving
Teamwork
Accounting Operations
Financial Management
Principles of Accounting
Technical Competence

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
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
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.

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.