Director, Great Lakes Coastal Science Branch

The Great Lakes Coastal Science Branch (GLCSB) is responsible for conducting place-based research to deliver environmental solutions for EPA and its partners along the coast of the Great Lakes in the United States. GLCSB has a primary focus on freshwater coastal ecology linking the ecological integrity of receiving waters to watershed effects and developing indicators and sampling protocols for freshwater ecosystem condition assessments. GLCSB utilizes environmental social and public health indicators for assessing and predicting outcomes of contaminant remediation ecosystem service restoration and community revitalization. Intrinsic to this branchs mission is the functional resiliency of watersheds and coastal systems to human-mediated flows of chemicals sediment and biota (e.g. invasive species).

The Great Lakes Coastal Science Branch works with counterparts both internal and external to the agency including other Federal and nonfederal organizations relative to branch programs and services. The branch also works closely with EPA Program Offices to deploy models and disseminate data within a corporate information technology architecture.

Specific duties of this position may include but are not limited to:

- Planning developing organizing directing leading and implementing the short and long term needs goals budgets policies priorities procedures projects extramural agreements and personnel matters for the branch.

- Representing the agency on interagency committees working groups conferences seminars and meetings.

- Overseeing the development assessment and improvement of management control systems in order to safeguard programs and achieve results while adhering to the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act.

- Providing oversight of and direction for the organization and facility located in Duluth MN.

- Ensuring that procurements contracts grants and assistance are managed in accordance with agency and office policies regulatory requirements and budgetary constraints.

- Performing the full range of supervisory human resources functions for the branch and subordinate employees.

You must be a U.S. Citizen.

If you are selected you must complete a 1-year SES probationary period if not previously completed.

The Ethics in Government Act P.L. 95-521 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement OGE-278 prior to assuming the SES position annually and upon termination of employment.

REAL ID requirements became effective on 05/07/25. If you are selected for this position and plan to use your drivers license or identification card during the onboarding process (i.e. for employment eligibility verification or to obtain your EPA identification card) the document must be a REAL ID-compliant state-issued drivers license or identification card that includes the REAL ID-compliant star marking or must be an Enhanced Drivers License (EDL). You will receive information about alternative acceptable documents (e.g. passport) prior to onboarding. For more information about REAL ID see Dept. of Homeland Security and REAL ID FAQs.

This position is designated as High Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

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The work of this position is classified in the Program Management 0340 series where the qualifications include both general management skills and characteristics that are applicable to all SES positions and technical or program responsibilities specific to this position. Applicants must have substantive general experience which provides a good basic or general knowledge of the principles of organization management and administration; and substantive specialized (operating administrative or managerial) experience in a type of work or a combination of functions directly related to this position.

All applicants must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that demonstrates the particular knowledge skills and abilities required to successfully perform in this role. Typically this experience can be found in work within this field or a field that is closely related.

As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service applicants must also provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below.

A. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory for competitive applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified unless you are a noncompetitive eligible applicant.

ECQ 1 - COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDING. Involves demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and commitment to serve the American people.
ECQ 2 - DRIVING EFFICIENCY. Involves demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources budget effectively cut wasteful spending and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades.
ECQ 3 - MERIT AND COMPETENCE. Involves demonstrated knowledge ability and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality.
ECQ 4 - LEADING PEOPLE. Involves demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organizations vision mission and goals and to drive a high-performance high-accountability culture. This includes when necessary the ability to lead people through change and hold individuals accountable.
ECQ 5 - ACHIEVING RESULTS. Involves demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results and to align results to stated goals from superiors.

Your responses should be clear and concise and show a level of accomplishment and a degree of responsibility. Leadership competencies for each ECQ can be found in OPMs Guide to SES Qualifications.

B. Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory for all applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified.

TQ 1 - Demonstrated experience leading and managing a research organization with a multi-disciplinary staff of scientists and support personnel including experience in leading multi-organizational discussions and dealing effectively with high level officials in international federal state and tribal and/or local organizations.