Department of Transportation

Airway Transportation Systems Specialist (ATSS - SOC NAS)

Palmdale, California Full time

Airway Transportation Systems Specialist (ATSS - SOC NAS)

Department: Department of Transportation

Location(s): Palmdale, California

Salary Range: $104516 - $161984 Per Year

Job Summary: The Airway Transportation Systems Specialist (ATSS) at this level is recognized as the subject matter expert in their field. All duties of an ATSS are tied to maintaining safe and efficient operating capacity of the vast and complex network of electronics systems required for the world's largest air traffic control and navigation system.

Major Duties:

  • ATSS personnel install, evaluate, maintain, modify and certify facilities, services and equipment that support the National Airspace System (NAS). They are also responsible for various duties that contribute to providing reliable and safe FAA services to the flying public. Serves as an ATSS (NAS Area Specialist), in a Service Operations Center (SOC). Performs a variety of functions directly relating to the operations of the NAS. Focus is on the availability and reliability of the services and products provided to users of the NAS. Recognized as the principal technical specialist on legacy and newly developed systems within a large facility or multiple facilities over a large geographical area. Responsible for the planning, directing, coordinating, monitoring, and maintenance activities associated with the management of assigned NAS systems/facilities. Performs work of broad scope and complexity with a high degree of independence. Applies broad experience and comprehensive technical knowledge to maintain and protect the integrity and safety of all components and systems for the NAS service delivery. Provides the highest organization level of technical support associated with analyzing, installing, repairing, fabricating, maintaining, modifying, or evaluating the most complex systems for which the FAA is responsible. Plans, coordinates and performs work with a high degree of independence, keeping the supervisor advised only of the most critical issues. Resolves unique technical problems without managerial intervention, providing coordination and suggested solutions. Rapidly analyzes and seeks resolution to problems as they arise, and makes adjustments as necessary to deal with system outages and network performance deterioration. Initiates action for the timely repair or restoration of services and systems, taking into account the availability of back-up systems, possible reconfigurations to minimize service interruptions, and the relative criticality of particular functions to the safe and efficient operation of the NAS. Incumbent is responsible for timely upward reporting of NAS information that could have an impact to operations for purposes of Situation Awareness (i.e. NOTAM, SAL Paging function). Incumbent-in-charge is expected to be management's representative during non-administrative hours. Integrate Operational Risk Management (ORM) into restoration, schedule maintenance activities, and all planned projects, ensuring that all customers and users of services are included and involved in ORM implementation and planning. Contacts are both internal and external. Often represents the organization as the primary point of contact on projects, programs, and other work activities to coordinate and implement plans or obtain information and resolve problems. The Operations area serves as a principal organizational element of the Technical Operations Organizational to plan, direct, coordinate, monitor, and accomplish activities associated with real-time management of assigned NAS systems/facilities at the service integrity level. Reports to the Service Operations Center Manager. Receives general program assignments from a supervisor or higher level manager. Assignments are stated in terms of priorities, overall objectives, and boundaries. Completed assignments are considered technically authoritative and are reviewed only for general compliance with organizational objectives. Identifies resources needed to perform assignments. Organizes and assigns resources needed to accomplish large work activities within established schedules. Work is reviewed for compliance with established policies and sound technical judgement. Performs other duties as assigned. Incumbent must possess a valid driver's license.

Qualifications: Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience at the level of difficulty and responsibility that demonstrates an extensive knowledge of and experience in technology system interrelationships, and management of civilian or military automated aviation, navigation and electronics systems. Generally, experience at the next lower level, pay band FV-H/level III or FG/GS-12 equivalent, meets the minimum qualifications for this position as long as the experience supports the demonstrated abilities. In addition to your resume, in the space provided under each Demonstrated Ability, you MUST provide a NARRATIVE justification on how you meet this ability. The justification should be clear and concise, providing a description of your education, training, and experience that would describe the degree to which you possess each Demonstrated Ability listed below. Eligible candidates may be ranked based on demonstrated abilities. For assistance in responding to each of the Demonstrated Abilities "things to consider"/instructions have been provided for each of the demonstrated abilities at: https://employees.faa.gov/org/staffoffices/ahr/program_policies/policy_guidance/hr_policies/media/AppendixVPromotionCriteria.pdf Qualifications must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement. Supervisor Endorsement: A supervisory statement endorsing the applicant for this announcement is required by the closing date of this announcement. The endorsement must include the announcement number. Please upload your document(s) with your application by the closing date of the announcement. A Supervisor's Endorsement can be a memorandum or regionally generated form, and must include the announcement number. Candidates who are not endorsed by their supervisor will not be considered.

How to Apply: Applicants may be required to complete one or multiple assessments as part of the evaluation process. This assessment aims to evaluate the competencies and qualifications essential for the position. You must apply online to receive consideration. Your application must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the Close Date for it to be accepted. If you are applying for positions associated with FAA registers, your application must be submitted at the time a referral list is created in order to receive consideration for positions associated with a register. RESUMES ARE LIMITED TO TWO PAGES. IN DESCRIBING YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC AND INCLUDE INFORMATION AS IT RELATES TO THE QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION. We strongly encourage applicants to utilize the USAJOBS resume builder in the creation of resumes. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Relevant work experience: should align to the Job Announcement and address all required qualifications and include job title, employer name, start/end dates, number of hours worked per week. Education, certification or licensure: If required, education should include school/institution name, completion date, degree type and GPA. Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide ALL of this information may result in a finding of ineligible. You may upload completed documents to your USAJOBS Account. This will provide you the opportunity to utilize the uploaded information again when applying for future vacancies. Please see this guide, Document Upload Guide, for more information on uploading and re-using the documents in your applications.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-26