Aviation Safety Technician

About the role

Incumbent serves as an Aviation Safety Technician (AST) providing technical support to Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI's) and the public. Performs or assists with a wide range of certification, surveillance, and investigation duties requiring research and evaluation in accordance with current FAA safety directives/orders. The duty location for this position is Linthicum Heights, MD.

Responsibilities

• Provides expert technical knowledge and support to aviation safety inspectors, the general public, stakeholders, and airmen regarding a wide variety of aviation-related topics.
• Extracts safety data and information from FAA records to identify trends for items that affect aviation safety and enters technical findings in agency approved databases.
• Provides technical assistance and/or support with certification, surveillance, investigation, and/or enforcement, examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Certification Support – provides technical support to ASI's during certification of operators and air agencies; reviews airmen certification files submitted by designees for accuracy; reviews inspection authorization files for renewal eligibility; conducts Operational Color Vision Tests; reviews designee management system to determine renewal eligibility; compiles data for technical reports.
  • Surveillance Support – assists ASI's with surveillance of aviation events; assists in drafting and issuing waivers and authorizations.
  • Investigation Support – drafts Enforcement Investigative Reports (EIR) for review and final approval by an ASI; acts as the Point of Contact (POC) for safety assets (PPE) related to accident investigations.
  • Enforcement Support – responsible for enforcement functions including conducting violations, voluntary disclosure, suspect illegal charters, incidents, navigation and altitude deviation investigations.
  • Other – provides technical support for special inspections; may conduct meetings or portions of meetings in support of technical work functions; prepares technical correspondence in support of assigned work functions; provides administrative support and project tracking utilizing required computer software.

Requirements

• US Citizenship is required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Position is designated as Moderate Risk; a background investigation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the FG‑8 grade, you must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FG/GS‑7 level. Specialized experience is defined as:

• demonstrated accomplishment in practical technical aviation operations;
• experience in using computerized database systems;
• experience in preparing technical reports;
• experience in researching, analyzing and providing recommendations.

To qualify for this position at the FG‑9 grade, you must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FV‑E, GS-/FG‑8 level. In addition to the four items above, experience must also include:

• experience in gathering and compiling aviation safety data;
• experience in assisting in aviation investigations such as complaints, occurrences, incidents, accidents and/or violations.

Education is not qualifying and may not be substituted for experience.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full‑time, part‑time or intermittent.

Additional Information

• The position may be