Nuclear Engineer
Department of the Navy
Summary
You will serve as a NUCLEAR ENGINEER in the SECURITY OFFICE (CODE 1120) of PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD.
Duties
- You will serve as the PNS Subject Matter Expert on the Security Classification Guides and Interpretive Bulletins relating to the distribution control and classification of information associated with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
- You will review and analyze all pertinent DOD, DON, and NAVSEA directives for impact on the Shipyard, Reactor Plant Information, and non-nuclear information security programs.
- You will Serve as the PNS Program Manager for the Department Security Coordinator (DSC) and Security Administrator (SA) programs.
- You will provide coaching, mentoring, training, and oversight of approximately 18 DSCs and 22 SAs throughout execution of their DSC/SA Professional Development Standard (PDS).
- You will be responsible to ensure changes to these corporate directives are formally scoped against current PNS local instructions and practices, which include an impact assessment and a plan of implementation.
Education
Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess: Basic Requirements for Nuclear Engineering Series 0840: A. Degree: 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. OR B.
Combination of education and experience — 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. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration or licensure — Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, 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 applicants 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.
For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board’s eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test — Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses — Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4.
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 the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.) Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise.
Required Documents
Prepare the documents below before applying. Always confirm the exact requirements on the official announcement, since they vary by position:
- You are required to provide documentation that supports the eligibility and qualification claims made in your resume.
- You must submit the applicable documents listed here and those listed with the eligibilities you select in the announcement questionnaire with your application package.
- Applicants who do not provide supporting documentation that fully support their claims will not be referred to the hiring manager.
- Cover letter is optional.
- A complete resume is required.
- Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages.
- Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered.
- Your resume must show relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments.
- Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications.
- The following information should be provided in your resume: employer's name, starting and end dates (Mo/Yr), hours per week if experience was less than full time (35-40 hours per week), pay plan, series and grade level (e.g.
About this role
The Nuclear Engineer position with the Department of the Navy is based in Kittery, Maine. You will serve as a NUCLEAR ENGINEER in the SECURITY OFFICE (CODE 1120) of PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD. The role pays $120,548 to $156,715 per year.
Day to day, the work involves the core duties of the Nuclear Engineer role as detailed in the announcement below. The full list of duties, conditions, and required documents appears in the official announcement linked on this page.
Who should apply
Review the announcement's Qualifications section closely, since it defines exactly what federal engineering experience this Nuclear Engineer position requires. Match your federal resume directly to the announcement's wording so a reviewer can confirm each requirement in writing. For this Nuclear Engineer position with the Department of the Navy in Kittery, Maine, confirm you meet each requirement before applying.
How competitive it is
At $120,548 to $156,715 per year, this is a mid-to-senior role where a precisely tailored application matters most. Based in Kittery, Maine, it competes within that local market, which can mean lighter competition than major metropolitan postings. The announcement closes on June 29, 2026, and federal postings can close early once enough applications arrive, so applying promptly is wise.
This overview is general guidance from Job Army to help you understand the role. Always read the official announcement for exact duties, qualifications, and requirements before applying.
