Department of Defense

Senior Materials Engineer

Fort Belvoir, Virginia Full time

Senior Materials Engineer

Department: Department of Defense

Location(s): Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Salary Range: $143913 - $187093 Per Year

Job Summary: See below for important information regarding this job.

Major Duties:

  • Materials applications advisor in Strategic Planning and Market Research on minerals, mining, metals processing, and other materials applications for assets held in or considered for acquisition for the National Defense Stockpile (NDS).
  • Responsible for developing, planning, executing, managing, and transitioning NDS Research and Development funded programs supporting Strategic and Critical Material Supply Chain and NDS strategic goals and objectives.
  • Performs research, investigations, and provides assessments of the materials factors impacting the NDS mission. Collaborates with scientists and economists to identify material issues impacting NDS materials and programs.
  • Brief senior government, agency, representatives of private foreign and domestic industry on plans and recommendations for Research and Development program initiatives.
  • Lead a group of engineers towards focused goals related to acquisitions, Research and Development, market research, and reporting requirements.
  • Evaluates strategic and critical material related proposals received in response to the NDS Research and Development Broad Agency Announcements posed on SAM.gov.

Qualifications: To qualify for a Senior Materials Engineer, your resume and supporting documentation must support: A. Basic Requirement: Engineering degree. 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. or 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 be one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 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. 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. 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 item A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in item A. 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 engineer, 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. B. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position and is directly in or related to this position. To qualify at the GS-14 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military, or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including time-in-grade (General Schedule (GS) positions only), time-after-competitive appointment, minimum qualifications, and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Creditable specialized experience includes: Mastery knowledge of the commodities held in the National Defense Stockpile, commodity markets, strategic and critical materials supply chains, acquisition, and applications within civilian and defense industries. Demonstrated experience performing studies of scientific and technological matters related to strategic and critical materials. Expert knowledge of the application of data analysis to systematically apply statistical, precise, and logical techniques to make decisions and support conclusions to senior leadership within the Agency, Department of Defense, Congress and industry partners. Experience refers to 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.

How to Apply: To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account. You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. NOTE: Resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages. If your resume exceeds the two-page limit, you will be removed from consideration for this announcement. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://www.usajobs.gov, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To preview the questionnaire, please go to https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12899659.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-12