Summary You will serve as the SUBSAFE PROGRAM DIRECTOR (SSPD) in the QUALITY MANAGEMENT OFFICE (CODE 00Q) of NSWC PHILA DIV. Duties You will serve as the SUBSAFE Program Director, conceiving, formulating, directing, evaluating, and executing the overall NSWCPD SUBSAFE Program as the primary interface with NAVSEA, Naval Shipyards, and the Fleet. | You will provide authoritative advice on SUBSAFE compliance and ensure all SUBSAFE capabilities are maintained by directing internal and external audits and managing multi-disciplinary engineering projects. | You will ensure all quality assurance requirements for submarine programs are met, integrating efforts with program management, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and other functional disciplines. | You will conduct and oversee internal and external SUBSAFE Functional Audits (SSFA) and SUBSAFE Certification Audits (SSCA), including investigations of unprecedented quality assurance problems. | You will oversee contractors by assessing quality control plans and evaluating repair and installation methods for submarine systems in manufacturing and industrial settings. | You will brief senior leadership and represent the organization at top-level meetings, defending technical recommendations and negotiating on complex issues with experts and officials. | You will lead diverse multi-disciplinary teams to resolve complex problems in critical submarine safety systems, motivating organizations to correct deficiencies. | You will formulate overall mission and program objectives for the NSWCPD SUBSAFE Program and maintain expert knowledge of the SUBSAFE infrastructure across Naval Activities.
Qualifications
Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-04 pay band (GS-12/13 grade level equivalency) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following:
- Demonstrating expert knowledge and application of submarine safety (SUBSAFE) instructions, procedures, processes, production, and quality programs in accordance with the NAVSEA Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) Requirements Manual, including serving as a recognized authority for engineering compliance.
- Demonstrating experience conducting, directing, and/or overseeing both internal and external SUBSAFE Functional Audits (SSFA) and SUBSAFE Certification Audits (SSCA), including onsite surveillance and investigations of quality assurance problems.
- Demonstrating proficiency in program management, including formulating overall mission and program objectives, providing authoritative advice to senior leadership, and briefing at the highest levels.
- Oversight of contractors, including assessing and evaluating contractor quality control plans for the acquisition, installation, and repair of electro-mechanical ship systems.
- Working with and lead diverse multi-disciplinary teams to resolve complex technical and quality assurance problems related to critical submarine safety systems, and to motivate individuals and organizations to recognize and correct deficiencies.
Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series AND https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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. Education Applicants must meet the following basic education requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual:
Successful completion of a professional engineering degree. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.
OR
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 more information about EI and EIT registration requirements, please visit the National Society of Professional Engineers website at: http://www.nspe.org
OR
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 The FE examination is not administered by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management. For more information, please visit: http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/HowtoGetLicensed/index.html.
OR
Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A (above). The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A (above)
OR
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 engineering, provided the applicant has had at least one 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.
How you will be evaluated When the application process is complete, we will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and application package, along with your supporting documentation to determine your ability to demonstrate the following competencies:
- ACCOUNTABILITY
- COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
- ORAL COMMUNICATION
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- REPORTING AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
This recruitment will utilize the following technical assessment tools: Structured Resume Review AND Structured Interview.
You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.
If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities or you may be found ineligible/not qualified.
Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
All eligibility, qualifications, and time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. How to apply Click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
- Complete resume. Your resume must show relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications. The following information should be provided in your resume: employer's name, starting and end dates (Mo/Yr), hours per week if experience was less than full time (35-40 hours per week), pay plan, series and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09) for relevant federal experience. TIP: A good way to ensure you include all essential information is to use the Resume Builder in USAJOBS to create your resume.
- Documentation that supports all of the claims made in your resume and assessment questionnaire
Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.
Your complete application must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 11/16/2026to receive consideration. Applications received after 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 11/16/2026 will generally not be accepted. If more than one resume is received, only the last resume received and processed will be reviewed. Please do not submit multiple resumes.
For additional information on viewing your application status, click https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.
You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
Do not email or send hard copy resumes/applications to the Contact Information or Agency Information listed in this vacancy announcement. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.
It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume, assessment questionnaire, and supporting documents are legible and accurate. Human Resources will not modify a resume or change an applicant's answer to a question, even upon request. Other information
Salary per Location:
Norfolk, VA: $127,646 to $195,190
Philadelphia, PA: $138,595 to $197,200
This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.
Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.
A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.
During the application process you will have the ability to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions in the local commuting area. Depending on the hiring organization and the position being filled, job requirements (e.g., security clearance, travel, drug testing, financial disclosure filing, bargaining unit status, etc.) may vary. Other hiring managers filling similar positions may offer relocation expense reimbursement and/or may offer recruitment incentives for new employees, depending on funding availability and in accordance with policy. If you opt-in and are referred on a certificate, your resume will be available to other hiring managers for 180-days from the date the job announcement closes. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf
PPP applicants will be placed at the FPL, if determined Well Qualified (WQ). To receive priority consideration, the FPL must be the same grade level or equivalent of the retained grade or the grade held immediately prior to separation.
ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a rating in the highly qualified category (score 85) or higher. ICTAP candidates must provide copies of all of the following documentation at the time of application: 1) agency notice; 2) most recent performance appraisal; and 3) most recent SF-50 or notification of personnel action that includes position, grade level, and duty location. Applicants who do not provide this documentation will not receive consideration as an ICTAP candidate. For more information about ICTAP eligibility please review the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/career-transition/
Military Spouse Preference applicants will be placed at the highest grade for which they have applied and are determined Best Qualified (BQ). A BQ military spouse possesses knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies comparable to others who meet the competitive referral criteria for the specific position.
Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees.
