Supervisory Aviation Safety Specialist (Section Front-Line Manager)

About the role

Serves as a Supervisory Aviation Safety Specialist (Section Front-Line Manager) providing supervision to subordinate employees with overall program responsibility for the activities of a section within the Flight Technologies and Procedures Division.

What you will do

• Plans, evaluates, and oversees aviation safety activities within a complex and dynamic National Airspace System (NAS) involving air carrier and/or general aviation operations.
• Applies broad knowledge of aviation operations, safety management principles, and regulatory frameworks to assess compliance, analyze safety data and trends, identify hazards, and support risk management strategies.
• The work emphasizes analytical review, coordination, and oversight of safety programs and processes rather than direct technical performance in operations, avionics, or maintenance specialties.
• Maintains overall program management responsibility for aviation safety initiatives, including the development and evaluation of concepts, standards, policy, criteria, guidance, procedures, programs, documentation, interpretive materials, and approval frameworks associated with assigned programs.
• Programs address complex aviation safety issues associated with evolving aircraft types, operational concepts, and integrated airborne, ground-based, and space-based systems.
• Oversees planning, prioritization, and execution of work across multiple projects, functions, and disciplines and integrates efforts across organizations to support strategic goals of the Branch, Division, Flight Standards, and the FAA.
• Provides leadership and oversight to assigned staff and coordinates with internal and external stakeholders to support consistent application of aviation safety policies and programs.
• Evaluates analyses and recommendations related to communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) standards; NextGen initiatives; air traffic management (ATM) technologies; airport operations; and operational approval processes.
• Supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of NAS operational safety concepts and provides Flight Standards recommendations and determinations regarding safety impacts to NAS users.
• Manages and sets clear performance standards that promote accountability, a sense of individual responsibility, professionalism, and pride for organizational performance.
• Ensures effective managerial work and work quality across all units and cross-organizational relationships while maintaining unit and individual well-being.
• Responsible for the leadership, planning, prioritizing, direction, communication, tasking, training, and scheduling of work.
• Also responsible for time and attendance, leave approval, performance evaluations, corrective and disciplinary actions, and sets the front-line office goals and objectives.
• Supports effective problem solving by ensuring subordinates are accountable to address challenges and barriers and are clear about roles and responsibilities for decision-making.
• Confirms active collaboration occurs beyond the office/branch and that solutions fully consider and represent all relevant perspectives/interests.
• Delegates work and empowers subordinates to decentralize decision-making.
• Confirms subordinates take on expected work and produce intended results with minimal intervention.
• Ensures subordinates communicate progress and barriers, and coordinate decisions across organizational boundaries as appropriate.
• Applies advanced knowledge of budget and human resource management, and other administrative policies and procedures, and an advanced understanding of the objectives of the major subdivision.
• Oversees aviation safety program functions that require access to classified information and systems up to the secret level.
• Attends meetings with executive leadership on topics that are sensitive or contain classified information.
• Manages or has access to sensitive information in effort to provide aviation safety administration.
• May perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• We are not accepting applications from noncitizens.

Education

KSA INFORMATION: As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of the Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) narratives from the initial application in the hiring process for all announcements.

Therefore, as an applicant for this announcement, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA.

In lieu of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each Knowledge, Skill and Abilities, in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you chose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and clearly reflect the highest level of ability.

Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and selective factor(s), if applicable, may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) and other factors listed in the announcement.

Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: score order, category grouping, or alphabetical and referred to the selecting official for consideration.

How you will be evaluated

IMPORTANT: Applicants may be rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position(s). All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated. Ensure that your application package/resume supports your responses.

Documents you must provide

• Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) will be required to verify area of consideration.
• Other supplemental documentation, etc. will be accepted in combination with your on-line application.
• These documents must be uploaded with your application or emailed to *** on or before the closing date of this announcement.
• All submitted documents should reference the announcement number.
• If you are an FAA employee, you MUST provide a copy of your SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) containing information in Blocks 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, and 24 so it can be used to verify your position title, series, grade, tenure, and organization of record by the closing date of the announcement.
• You may fax your SF-50 or upload it into the on-line application.
• If faxing the SF-50, please ensure you include the vacancy announcement number on the faxed copy.
• If you are an FAA employee, you can access and print your SF-50 from the eOPF system ***

What to expect next

Once we receive your complete application, the Human Resources Office will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications. Eligible and qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. You will be contacted directly if selected for an interview.

For instructions on how to check the status of your application, please go to: USAJOBS Help Guide. Important - If you make any changes to your application, you must resubmit it. If you make changes to your application and do not resubmit it, your changes will not be considered part of your application package, and only your previously submitted application will be evaluated.

All qualified applicants will be considered regardless of political affiliation, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or other non-merit factors. DOT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency contact listed in the Agency Contact Information section of this announcement or the hiring manager. An employee with a disability must notify the decision-maker of the accommodation request.

Job applicants and employees are required to follow up oral requests in writing. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Additional information on reasonable accommodations procedures or on EEO Programs is available on Office of Civil Rights (ACR) or by contacting the local FAA Civil Rights Office.

Additional information

We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions. Position may be subject to a background investigation. A one-year probationary period may be required.

The person selected for this position may be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of entry on duty.

FAA policy limits certain outside employment and financial investments in aviation-related companies. *** This position is covered by the Department of Transportation's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program.

Any applicant tentatively selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment or pre-appointment drug screening. Persons occupying a "testing designated position (TDP)" will be subject to random drug and/or alcohol testing. NOTES: Some, all or none of the applicants may be interviewed.

Applicants must apply on-line to receive consideration for this vacancy announcement.

Faxed, mailed, or emailed applications cannot be accepted. This position is covered by the FAA Core Compensation plan. Additional information about core compensation is available on the following website: *** Please ensure you answer all questions and follow all instructions carefully.

Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered for the job. To confirm receipts of documents, please contact Kinsley Kerlick at ***. This is not a bargaining unit position.

Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA