Watercraft Safety Program Manager (GS-12/13)

Summary

You will serve as the Watercraft Safety Program Manager with the U.S. Geological Survey. You will provide policy direction and technical leadership involving watercraft operation, watercraft trailering, hazardous materials storage/transport aboard craft, emergency planning and PPE, training, and first aid/CPR administration in support of varied scientific over-the-water operations.

Duties

The duty station of this position must be at a USGS office location that is agreed upon by the selecting official and the selectee. Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses are not authorized. At the full performance level (GS-13), some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Develops, issues, and maintains national standards, policies, guidance, training, and procedures for all USGS watercraft activities, including specialized environments where existing guidelines are inapplicable. Designs/hosts national workshops; authors specialized SOPs (e.g., contaminated-water operations; epidemic/pandemic decontamination protocols) for bureau adoption; integrates curricula with USGS. Provides authoritative advice to bureau/region/center leadership and assists in establishing new or experimental watercraft safety initiatives where precedent is limited. Plans and executes the annual Watercraft Safety Program budget; oversees procurement and lifecycle management of safety-critical assets. Establishes program performance goals and metrics; prepares annual action plans and accomplishments reports. Plans/conducts comprehensive inspections and program reviews; leads investigations of serious incidents and near-misses; issues root-cause determinations and bureau-wide corrective actions. Manages the Bureau Inspection and Abatement System (IAS) record for watercraft findings; directs abatement tracking and closure across Regions/Science Centers; leads external audits when cross-jurisdictional issues arise. Represents USGS on DOI/interagency boards/working groups (USCG, State boating authorities, cooperative partners) to develop procedures, policies, and to enable safe joint operations, and to support federal efforts outside of USGS's mission. Negotiates workable agreements to correct systemic safety problems beyond direct operations; resolves conflicts among entities with overlapping/inconsistent requirements. Conducts Motorboat Operator certification and advanced modules; ensures training currency; provides expert technical assistance for complex operations (fast water, low visibility, hazardous cargo, tow operations). Responds to field questions, concerns, incidents and suggestions and provides sound and actionable technical assistance to sometimes novel and emerging, and complex issues. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/02/2026 - unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. To qualify for this position at the GS-13 grade level: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Experience that demonstrates expert level watercraft safety program management, including development, implementation, and evaluation of watercraft safety policies, procedures, and training; oversight of watercraft operations and personnel; application of current expert knowledge in watercraft safety; and ensuring compliance with federal regulations and standards governing watercraft use for scientific operations. Experience must include independent authority to guide and advise on complex or novel watercraft operations and to lead investigations, audits, and programmatic improvements across a large and diverse organization. You must include hours per week worked. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Experience that demonstrates watercraft safety program management, including development, implementation, and evaluation of watercraft safety policies, procedures, and training; oversight of watercraft operations and personnel; application of current knowledge in watercraft safety; and ensuring compliance with federal regulations and standards governing scientific watercraft use for scientific operations. You must include hours per week worked. Volunteer Experience: 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.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Direct Deposit participation required. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. You must pass a physical examination. You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority. You are required to obtain and maintain a Motorboat Operator Certification Course (MOCC). As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. 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.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

How you will be evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed. You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Safety/Occupational Health Knowledge Problem Solving Interpersonal Communication Program/Project Management Leadership and Supervison Customer Service Management Advisory To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment(s), including a structured resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job. All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP). To be considered under CTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the 11/02/2026 - unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement to receive consideration. Note: You will only be marked eligible for those eligibilities that you selected and provided the appropriate supporting documentation. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. To PREVIEW the application questionnaire, select the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13092763 Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status, visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.

Other information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor. All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior. Physical Demands/Work Environment: The work is largely sedentary and in an office setting. Periodically you may be required to perform hands on watercraft training and inspections that involve extended periods of working over water, standing, walking, and climbing on ladders. Walking and standing may be over uneven terrain, moving walking surfaces such as watercraft and floating boat docks. Walking and standing may be required for long periods of time. Occasional lifting and carrying equipment and supplies is required. Work may require minimal physical exertion during emergency response activities, including automatic defibrillator deployment and setting up exclusion zones. Field work may pose hazards such as heat and cold extremes, cold-water, fast-moving water, hazardous cargo handling, remote locations, hazardous wildlife, environmental biohazards, and excessive noise exposure, among others. You will be required to follow established safety precautions, employ specialized controls, and wear person protective equipment as needed. The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.