Supervisory Physical Scientist (Friction Ridge)-Direct Hire

About the role

This position serves as Section Chief in a Laboratory within the Office of Science and Technology (OST). This position supports the mission of OST by encompassing a broad range of responsibilities that are highly technical and scientific services in support of the Bureau's primary law enforcement mission.

Direct-Hire Authority (DHA) is a hiring authority granted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to address critical hiring needs or severe candidate shortages

What you will do

• Establishes general work goals, makes special work assignments, and reviews work completed by employees.
• Leads, manages, and directs the goals and objectives of supervised staff members.
• Provides good communications to establish and maintain effective work relationships with staff and with management within and outside the Bureau.
• Functions as the first level supervisor for employees and provides scientific, technical, and administrative oversight.
• Ensures the Section follows the quality assurance procedures.

Requirements

• The requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
• Must be U.S. Citizen or National.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31, 1959.
• Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file.
• May be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
• Pass drug screening and subject to random drug test.
• Suitable for Federal employment determined by background investigation.
• You must meet all applicable time-in-grade requirements by the closing of this announcement.

Education

This position requires 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. Please refer to the Qualifications section for full details.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements, please see the statements below. Education must be reviewed and certified by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, in order for it to be creditable towards your qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from accredited institution.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements.

You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program.

It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency.

All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

How you will be evaluated

Once the job opportunity announcement closes (at 11:59 pm ET on 11/03/2026), your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) along with the results of the applied assessment.

Qualified applicants who pass the online assessment and SME review,, which is used to determine proficiency, will be referred to the selecting official for consideration. The Hiring Official may select any qualified candidate. Veterans' preference is not applicable.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two pages of your resume, starting at your work experience. SMEs will not review any additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter).

Applicants who pass the structured resume review will be added to the list of qualified candidates. USA Hire: You will be asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments where you will be evaluated on critical competencies relevant to this position.

You must meet all qualifications, including meeting or exceeding the cut score on the required assessments.

Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decisiveness Flexibility Forensics Interpersonal Skills Leadership Oral Communication Problem Solving Resilience Technical Credibility When addressing the specialized experience statement, applicants must present evidence of the experience in their resume.

If the specialized experience statement is repeated in the applicant's resume, Human Resources will deem the applicant as ineligible. If you would like to preview the application questionnaire, please see: ***

Documents you must provide

• It is your responsibility to carefully review the list of required documents below and submit the necessary documentation to prove you possess the required specialized experience for this position.
• IF YOU OMIT ANY OF THE REQUIRED INFORMATION, YOU RUN THE RISK OF BEING FOUND INELIGIBLE FOR THE POSITION.
• Resume - All Applicants: You must submit a resume (strictly two pages or less) that serves as the primary evidence of your qualifications.
• To demonstrate that you meet the specialized experience requirements, your resume must comprehensively and explicitly link your career history to the specialized experience competencies of this role.
• To reduce possible disqualification due to a lack of verifiable information, you should include all six of the following elements for every job entry listed in your employment history.
• If any element is omitted, the HR Specialist may be unable to determine your eligibility, resulting in your removal from consideration with an ineligible rating: Official Position Title: State your exact federal or corporate title to establish the professional level of your experience.
• For example, Division Chief, Group Supervisor, etc. Employer Name and Contact Information: Provide the company/agency name and a valid phone number or email address for verification purposes.
• Start and End Dates: List the exact month and year for both the start and end of each employment period to verify you meet the time-in-grade and minimum duration requirements for specialized experience.
• Hours Worked Per Week: Explicitly indicate if the position was full-time or state the exact number of hours worked per week if part-time.
• (Specialized experience is credited based on a 40-hour work week; failure to provide hours means your experience cannot be quantified or credited.) Pay Plan/Series/Grade: For all federal positions held, you should explicitly state your Pay Plan (i.e., GS, GL, etc.), Series (i.e., 1811, 1801, 2210, etc.) and Grade (e.g., GS 01-15).
• It should be expressed as following example GS-1811-14).
• If a position was in the private sector or was volunteer work, explicitly state "N/A - Private Sector" or "N/A - Volunteer" so the HR Specialist can accurately assess your equivalent level of experience.
• Duties Performed and Accomplishments: Provide a targeted list of responsibilities and measurable achievements.
• This section must directly mirror and provide evidence of the specialized experience outlined in the qualifications section of this announcement.
• Use action-oriented, quantifiable bullets to demonstrate your mastery of the required skills.
• Important Compliance Rules: Two-Page Absolute Limit: Resumes must be limited to two pages or less.
• USAJobs will only allow candidates to upload 2-page resumes.
• However, any resumes in excess of 2-pages will result in immediate disqualification.
• Most Recent Submission Counts: Only the most recent resume submitted under the "Resume" document type will be evaluated for rating and qualification determinations.
• Showing relative permanent and volunteer work experience, education, and training.
• Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations.
• If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP: You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency OR if you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
• Submit a copy of your most recent performance appraisal and SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location OR Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.
• If you are using education to qualify for this position, or education is required: You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award.
• Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcripts will be required prior to your first day.
• Your transcript must come from a nationally accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education.
• Please do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection.
• These may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document.
• If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education.
• Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included.
• Failure to provide the required documentation by the closing date of this announcement will result in elimination of further consideration for this position.

What to expect next

You can check the status of your application anytime by accessing the USAJOBS online application system at *** You will need to provide your USAJOBS User ID and Password to access the Track your Online Job Application feature. You may also click on the link provided to access additional information on USAJobs.

All applicants will be notified at four (4) stages in the hiring process: (1) upon receipt of your application; (2) after your qualifications have been assessed; (3) whether or not you've been referred to the Selecting Official; (4) whether or not you've been selected for the position. If your name is sent to the hiring manager, you may be invited for an interview.

We strive to extend a final offer of employment within 90 days from the close of this announcement.

Additional information

This announcement is being advertised under an agency specific OR a government-wide Direct-Hire Authority approved by OPM for filling vacancies when a severe shortage or critical hiring need exists. Veterans Preference and other Category Rating procedures do not apply to this announcement.

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements of the position.

The hiring office may interview and select any qualified candidate of their choosing from the qualified pool. See OPM, Direct Hire Authority for more information. 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. Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations from ATF's Human Resources Operations Division. Please click on the following link to read important information.

DOJ Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service.

To receive selection priority for this position, you must: Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above; and Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.

A one-year probationary period is required for new supervisors and managers.

Probationary Period: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.

In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: 1) your performance and conduct; 2) the needs and interests of the agency; 3) whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and 4) whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

Reasonable Accommodation: ATF provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the job application and hiring process, and you meet the eligibility requirements listed above, please notify the human resources specialist listed on the vacancy announcement, or contact the ATF's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity at *** or send an email to ***.

The decision on granting a reasonable accommodation is handled on a case-by-case basis.