Fire Protection Engineer (Direct Hire)

About the role

The Fire Protection Engineer manages fire protection systems across the Center, supporting the planning, design, construction, modification, and maintenance of fire alarm, reporting, suppression, and related life safety systems in facilities, hangars, utilities, and mission-critical structures.

Responsibilities

• Evaluates system requirements, advising project teams, ensuring code-compliant design integration, and maintaining life safety performance throughout the lifecycle.
• Helps prevent, identifies, and mitigates fire hazards, including detecting, controlling, and suppressing fire events considering the effects of fire on people, structures, commodities, and the continuity of operations at Armstrong Flight Research Center.
• Facilitates adaptation to controversial, complex, or difficult changes involving fire protection infrastructure, systems, and fire safety requirements.
• Develops, interprets, and promotes fire safety codes, standards, and engineering practices.
• Provides specifications for building construction, exit and egress means, and mechanical systems in support of fire and life safety objectives.
• Conducts or participates in preliminary and critical design reviews; determines, develops, and defends requirements for fire protection and life safety systems throughout all phases of the facility life cycle.
• Identifies fire hazards and associated risks, evaluates the cost of protection, and assesses fire safety design solutions.
• Evaluates project progress and technical challenges; implements changes to improve performance and reports status to management and stakeholders.
• Influences and leads diverse, cross-organizational project teams in uncertain or evolving environments.
• Performs site walk-downs and witnesses acceptance testing of fire alarm, fire reporting, and fire suppression systems to ensure contract compliance, code compliance, and suitability for occupancy.

  Requirements

  This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S. It may require a one-year probationary period. You must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Position subject to pre-employment security background investigation or higher-level clearance.

  To qualify for GS-14, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level: coordinating, leading, and/or collaborating with cross-functional teams of technical experts to provide guidance or recommendations on projects involving fire protection system requirements; conducting site walk-downs, inspections, or acceptance testing of fire alarm, fire reporting, or fire suppression systems to verify compliance with contract specifications, applicable fire protection codes and standards; and providing oversight and/or technical engineering guidance related to fire protection systems or supporting compliance with applicable Federal laws, regulations, codes, and standards.

  Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

  NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process.

  Qualifications

  • Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.
  • To qualify for GS-14, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level: coordinating, leading, and/or collaborating with cross-functional teams of technical experts to provide guidance or recommendations on projects involving fire protection system requirements; conducting site walk-downs, inspections, or acceptance testing of fire alarm, fire reporting, or fire suppression systems to verify compliance with contract specifications, applicable fire protection codes and standards; and providing oversight and/or technical engineering guidance related to fire protection systems or supporting compliance with applicable Federal laws, regulations, codes, and standards.
  • Basic Requirement: You must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree. You must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by 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.
  • Related curriculum: 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 you have had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance.
  • Professional registration or licensure: 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 individuals 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.
  • Written Test: Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional.
  • Education: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering.
  • Additional information: Additional selections may be made for similar positions across NASA within the local commuting area(s) of the location(s) identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) within NASA. CTAP/ICTAP will be cleared for any additional selection from this announcement. If you have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must: Indicate your eligibility when applying for a position. The questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility. Submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP as indicated in 'Required Documents.' For additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, click here - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/#ictap.
  • Special conditions: Any applicant that received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) from the federal government within the last five years based of the closing date of this announcement, if selected, may be required to repay the full amount prior to establishing a start date. For additional information on the VSIP repayment requirement, click here - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/voluntary-separation-incentive-payments/.
  • Probationary Period: You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. If selected, the requirement to serve such period will be determined by Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 11. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may 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. 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. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

    Benefits

    All candidates will be considered for the highest level of pay available for the position. The salary range for this position is $127,890 to $177,840 per year. The salary range is based on the GS-14 grade level. The actual salary offered will depend on the candidate's qualifications and the results of the selection process. The salary range is subject to change without notice.