Duties

As the Deputy Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator (DPADA) for Research Development Test & Evaluation you will have the following duties: Leads the development and advancement of U.S. RDT&E capabilities crucial for the design, certification, and assessment of a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. Ensures these efforts are strategically aligned with and responsive to the Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan, the RDT&E Strategic Framework, the DOE Strategic Plan, the NNSA Strategic Vision, and Congressional Budget Justification. Strategically strengthens science, research, technology, and engineering capabilities across the entire Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) in support of the 'OneNNSA' vision. Fosters collaborative partnerships across internal and external organizations, actively contributing to NNSA governance, eliminating duplication and inefficiencies, and leading transformative enterprise-wide initiatives. Drives continuous improvement in RDT&E quality and efficiency through robust programmatic and technical integration. Ensures all RDT&E activities are meticulously planned and executed in accordance with Office Management & Execution Plans and fully supported by the Congressional Budget Request. Accelerates the transition of critical RDT&E technologies, ensuring their readiness at appropriate Technical Readiness Levels (TRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRL). This supports Stockpile Management and Production Modernization activities and rapidly advances capabilities to meet Department of Defense (DoD) requirements and counter emerging national security threats. Shapes and implements a cohesive organizational vision for NA-11 that seamlessly integrates key strategic goals, priorities, and values. Proactively anticipates and responds to evolving challenges, fostering a culture of innovation and implementing adaptive solutions from incremental enhancements to significant strategic shifts. Balances continuity with necessary change, consistently driving improvements in service and program performance, and cultivating a transparent, collaborative, and creative work environment that maintains steadfast program focus even amidst adversity. Establishes and executes human capital strategies that maximize employee potential, foster an inclusive and high-performing workplace, and uphold the highest ethical standards. Connects organizational elements horizontally and vertically, ensuring robust collaboration, effective conflict resolution, and full employee participation. Oversees the development and implementation of performance management systems that align individual goals with NA-11's mission, provide constructive feedback, ensure realistic appraisals, and hold employees accountable. Leads efforts to recruit, retain, and develop a diverse and skilled workforce, reflecting national demographics, to accomplish organizational objectives while championing workforce diversity, workplace inclusion, and equal employment opportunity. Directs the comprehensive assessment, analysis, acquisition, and administration of human, financial, material, and information resources, ensuring optimal stewardship and public trust to achieve NA-11's mission. Leverages advanced technology and data analytics to optimize processes and enhance evidence-based decision-making. Manages and executes the operating budget, including the preparation of meticulous budget requests with thorough justifications and the strategic allocation of resources. Cultivates and maintains robust relationships with a broad spectrum of internal and external stakeholders, actively soliciting and integrating diverse feedback to strengthen support and foster open dialogue. Serves as a primary advocate and negotiator, persuasively explaining and justifying NA-11's initiatives and decisions to various audiences. Proactively develops and leverages professional networks across relevant organizations, demonstrating acute awareness of the intergovernmental and interagency dynamics that influence the mission and operations of NA-11.

Requirements

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT FOR THIS VACANCY: This is a career position in the SES. Unless the selectee is already a member of the SES with career status or are a graduate of an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) certified SES Candidate Development Program, your executive qualifications must be assessed and approved by OPM before you can be hired. HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE (HSPD-12): A selectee's appointment is contingent upon compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12) governing personal identity. May be required to pass a pre-employment drug test, random testing after appointment. PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT (OGE 278): If you are selected for this position, will be required to file this report prior to entry on duty in accordance with the Ethics of Government Act of 1978. PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You may be required to complete a one-year SES probationary period. Probationary periods are required for new employees appointed to a Senior Executive Service (SES) position for the first time. Employees serving on probationary period may be terminated at any time during the probationary for performance, conduct, or business-related reasons in the interest of Federal service. SELECTIVE SERVICE: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so. SECURITY CLEARANCE: Must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q security clearance. DRUG TESTING: Subject to pre-employment/pre-appointment testing for illegal drug use under the U.S. Department of Energy Employee Drug Plan. If you are selected you will be provided information regarding drug testing. Failure to undergo testing or positive findings resulting from the test will eliminate you from further consideration for this position. If selected for and appointed to this position you will be subject to random drug testing while employed. MOBILITY: Organizational and geographical mobility is essential in developing and managing SES leaders. Individuals selected for SES positions members may be subject to reassignment across geographical, organizational, and functional lines, and will be required to abide by NNSA's mobility policy. E-VERIFY: New employees to the Department of Energy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

Qualifications

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. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin. To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, you must show that you possess the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQ) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQ) related to this position within your resume - NOT TO EXCEED 2 PAGES. Resumes over the 2-page limit, will not be reviewed beyond page 2 or may be disqualified. Your resume should include examples of experience, education, and accomplishments applicable to the qualification(s). If your resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of these qualifications, you may not receive consideration for the position. Please DO NOT submit separate documents addressing the ECQs or MTQs. Only your resume capped at two (2) pages will be accepted and considered. Any additional documents submitted will not be accepted. MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (MTQs): Your resume should demonstrate accomplishments that would satisfy the technical qualifications. There are three MTQs. MTQ 1: Describe your experience leading and managing a complex, multi-year Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) program within a national security or highly regulated environment. Specifically, address how you ensured strategic alignment with overarching organizational missions, managed budgetary requirements across diverse technical portfolios, and utilized program management information systems (PMIS) to drive decision-making and transparency. MTQ 2: The NNSA's RDT&E mission requires expert professional knowledge across various hard sciences and/or engineering disciplines. Provide a detailed overview of your scientific or engineering background and how it has directly enabled you to provide authoritative technical advice, evaluate complex scientific programs, and contribute to strategic technical direction within a high-consequence environment, particularly concerning nuclear security or related fields. MTQ 3: The NNSA's responsibilities are integral to the broader U.S. National Security Enterprise, encompassing stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and naval nuclear propulsion. Discuss your understanding of these interconnected national security missions and provide examples from your experience where you have strategically integrated R&D activities or program management decisions to directly advance and protect the national security interests of the United States. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): In addition to the Mandatory Technical Qualification Requirements listed above, all new entrants into the Senior Executive Service (SES) under a career appointment will be assessed for executive competency against the following five mandatory ECQs. If your 2-page resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of the ECQs and MTQs, you may not receive further consideration for the position. There are five ECQs: 1: Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Principles of the American Founding: Demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government, commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and commitment to serve the American people. 2: Driving Efficiency: Demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades. 3: Merit and Competence: Demonstrated knowledge, ability, and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality. 4: Leading People: Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and to drive a high-performance, high accountability culture. This includes, when necessary, the ability to lead people through change and to hold individuals accountable. 5: Achieving Results: Demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to stated goals from superiors. Note: If you are a member of the SES or have been certified through successful participation in an OPM approved SES Candidate Development Program (SESCDP), or have SES reinstatement eligibility, you do not need to respond to the ECQs. Instead, you should attach proof (e.g., SF-50, Certification by OPM's SES Qualifications Review Board (QRB)) of your eligibility for noncompetitive appointment to the SES.

Education

You must meet the basic education requirements for at least one of the occupational series (0801 or 1301) identified below. You are required to submit unofficial college transcripts as outlined in the Required Documents section of this announcement. Failure to submit transcripts will result in disqualification for this position. To qualify for the 0801 General Engineering series, you must possess: A. Degree: Engineering. Successful completion of a bachelor's or higher engineering degree from an accredited college or university. 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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.-or- B. 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: (I) Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), 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; or (II) Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) 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; or (III) 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; or (IV) 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.) To qualify for the 1301 Physical Science series, you must possess: 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; 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 provide a copy of your unofficial transcript(s). Be sure to include those transcripts directly applicable for meeting the education requirements. Failure to provide proof of education will result in non-consideration for this position. Official transcripts will be required prior to entrance-on-duty for individuals selected. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education.

Other Information

Veteran's Preference does not apply to the Senior Executive service (SES). OF-306: You may be required to complete an OF-306, "Declaration for Federal Employment" form used to (a) determine your suitability for Federal Employment and/or (b) in conducting an investigation to determine your suitability or ability to hold a security clearance. The U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy Statement: http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/index.cfm Applications contain information subject to the Privacy Act (PL 93 579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361. The Fair Chance Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged non-compliance by completing the Fair Chance Act Intake Form and submitting it to the Administrative Investigations Program at [email protected]. The selecting official may need to consult Departmental ethics counsel to determine whether any of your former or current employers, affiliations, or financial holdings conflict with your ability to perform the duties of this position. If necessary, ethics counsel will work with you and the hiring office regarding potential mitigation strategies, if available. Hiring incentives may be authorized in accordance with agency policy and if funding is available. This is a non-bargaining unit position.