Epidemiologist

About the role

You will serve as an Epidemiologist at NASA Johnson Space Center. You will provide support and contribute to occupational health, health physicist, or compliance functions. You will collectively support the protection of worker health through hazard anticipation, exposure assessment, risk analysis, and preventive controls.

You will drive functions to understand how environmental, chemical, biological, and radiological factors impact human health and implement systems that minimize those risks.

What you will do

• Duties described below are at the highest grade advertised.
• Duties assigned at lower grade levels will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity; duties will be commensurate with the grade of selected employee.
• Support the protection of worker/crew/subject health through hazard anticipation, exposure assessment, risk analysis, compliance, and preventive controls.
• Provide data analysis for applicable data sets, including epidemiological data, to determine associations between exposures and outcomes.
• Assist in establishing methods to evaluate effectiveness of implemented controls measures through follow-up monitoring, risk assessments, and audits.
• Translate complex health, exposure, and risk information into actionable guidance for employees, leadership, and technical teams.
• Participate in research and occupational surveillance on occupational disease trends, exposure reduction strategies, radiation effects, and environmental health risks.
• Participate in integrated occupational and medical risk management, collaborating with clinical, behavioral health, environmental, and biomedical engineering, or other teams to inform program-level risk mitigation strategies.

Education

Basic Education 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. Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position.

This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. 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 ***

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: ***

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

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements listed in this vacancy announcement. To determine your qualifications and referral status, we may review your resume and supporting documentation and compare it against your responses to the assessment questionnaire.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or assessment questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments.

They may also be evaluated during a structured interview: Attention to Detail Biology Customer Service Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Occupational and Environmental Health Reading Self-Management (Achievement) Stress Tolerance Teamwork Technical Competence Trend Analysis To preview the application questionnaire, click on the following link: *** 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 category rating process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of two categories identified and defined below: Best Qualified Category - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria. Qualified Category - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Names of all qualified candidates in the Best Qualified category will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration (unless a sufficient number of qualified veterans are found - in which case only those names will be initially certified).

Candidates within the Best Qualified category who are eligible for veteran preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles. 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: ***.

Documents you must provide

• 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: What to include in your resume.
• 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 be 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 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 (licenses, certification, veterans' preference information, etc.), based on your answers to the application questionnaire.
• When you apply, please verify you submit the appropriate documents.
• 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.

What to expect next

Once you submit your application package, you will receive an acknowledgement email. Throughout the process you will receive regular status updates through USAJOBS. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (Account Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen.

The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: Application Status. If you are found qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration.

Whether or not you are contacted for an interview depends upon the location of the position and the judgment of the hiring manager. If you are selected, you will be notified by phone or email with a tentative job offer.

If you fail to meet the conditions of employment or any other pre-employment requirements, such as missing a scheduled appointment, we may rescind a tentative job offer. An official, written job offer will be issued once all requirements have been verified.

Additional information

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across NASA within the local commuting area(s) of the location(s) identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) within NASA. CTAP/ICTAP will be cleared for any additional selection from this announcement.

If you have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must: Indicate your eligibility when applying for a position. The questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility. Be well qualified for this position to receive consideration.

Candidates rated in the 'Best Qualified' category are considered well-qualified. Please see 'How You Will Be Evaluated' for more information.

Submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP as indicated in 'Required Documents.' For additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, click: *** Per Executive Order 14343, this position is not part of a bargaining unit.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application.

Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis.

If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision.

You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.

To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

(***) Any applicant that received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) from the federal government within the last five years based of the closing date of this announcement, if selected, may be required to repay the full amount prior to establishing a start date.

For additional information on the VSIP repayment requirement, click here - *** Per Executive Order 14343, this position is not part of a bargaining unit.