Facilities Safety & Compliance Officer
NIST is seeking a Facilities Safety & Compliance Officer to help protect employees, contractors, and facilities by identifying hazards and ensuring safe operations across the NIST Boulder campus. You will provide safety oversight for construction, renovation, and maintenance activities; conduct inspections; review safety plans; issue permits; and drive corrective actions that prevent injuries, reduce risk, and strengthen compliance.
Major duties
The mission of NIST's Office of Facilities and Property Management (OFPM) is to advance NIST's mission success by planning, building, operating, maintaining, and servicing facilities that provide a safe, secure, and sustainable environment for world-class scientific research. This position is in the Boulder Facilities Maintenance Division, which ensures the operational reliability, safety, and modernization of campus infrastructure by providing engineering expertise in utility distribution, laboratory construction, and facility maintenance to support cutting-edge measurement science. As a Facilities Safety & Compliance Officer for this group, you will: Provide daily safety oversight for campus maintenance and construction operations, including reviewing contractor safety plans, conducting job hazard analyses, and issuing required work permits for high-risk operations such as hot work, excavation, and confined space entry. Conduct comprehensive facility inspections, hazard assessments, and workplace safety surveys-including mechanical/electrical rooms, fume hoods, and specialized equipment-to identify code violations and ensure environmental and occupational health compliance. Serve as the lead investigator for safety incidents and near-miss events by performing root-cause failure analyses, acting as a division safety coach, and designing, coordinating, and delivering safety training programs for NIST employees and contract personnel. Serve as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Project Manager for safety-related contracts, while offering technical expertise on safety codes, hazardous materials handling, fire safety, and environmental health programs.
Qualifications
In order to qualify, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-10 (ZT-III at NIST) level. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience providing technical assistance, consultation, and guidance on mechanical safety programs, including equipment and workplace inspections during operations such as testing, maintenance, renovations, and construction. 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. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration
Education
Qualifications are based upon meeting specialized experience only. Education cannot be used to qualify for this position.