Chemist

Food and Drug Administration•Silver Spring, MD

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position is in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). It is not fully remote; the selectee must follow FDA telework policy and regularly report in person to a designated FDA facility as determined by agency policy. The Chemist serves as a recognized scientific expert in analyzing, investigating, and characterizing the chemical composition and physical properties of tobacco products and tobacco product smoke or aerosol. The position identifies knowledge gaps requiring additional laboratory studies to improve understanding of tobacco product chemistry. The incumbent communicates technical scientific information clearly to non-scientists for rulemakings and guidance documents and serves as a principal scientific advisor to scientists, lawyers, and stakeholders in developing policies supporting rulemakings and guidance documents. The position is at the GS-13 level in the 1320 occupational series. Applicants must meet the specified education and specialized experience requirements, including one year of qualifying experience equivalent to GS-12. Federal employment conditions include U.S. citizenship, a background investigation, and applicable time-in-grade requirements. A transcript is required when education is used to qualify.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship, unless an explicitly stated exception applies.
Meet the basic education requirement: a degree in physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering including 30 semester hours in chemistry, mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics; or equivalent coursework and appropriate experience or additional education.
At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-12, including applying chemical principles to analyze, investigate, or characterize chemical composition and physical properties of complex products or substances; reviewing manufacturing processes and analytical methods related to chemical or scientific product applications; and communicating complex technical and scientific findings orally and in writing to scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Meet applicable time-in-grade requirements by the announcement closing date, including 52 weeks of comparable experience at the next lower grade for applicable current federal employees.
Pass a security investigation and meet all eligibility and qualification requirements by the announcement closing date.
Submit required supporting documentation, including transcripts when education is used to qualify and an SF-50 for internal applicants.

Responsibilities

Analyze, investigate, and characterize the chemical composition and physical properties of tobacco products and tobacco product smoke or aerosol.
Identify knowledge gaps requiring additional laboratory studies to better understand tobacco product chemistry.
Communicate technical scientific information clearly to non-scientists for rulemakings and guidance documents.
Serve as a principal scientific advisor to scientists, lawyers, and stakeholders developing policies supporting rulemakings and guidance documents.