Watercraft Safety Program Manager

Your tasks

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.

Requirements

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.

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

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.

Other

Major 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.