The U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Mission Area (WMA) is looking to hire two outstanding leaders and managers – one will serve as the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) Assistant Chief and the other as the Analytical Services Chief. We are committed to inclusive hiring practices that build a healthy workplace where diversity is a strength, and everyone has the support they need to succeed. We encourage applicants who are BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, have a disability, or are of any marginalized identity. Please see link provided at the end of this announcement for details on how to apply the position which opens on Monday, May 9, 2022.

The NWQL Analytical Services (AS) Chief is responsible for supervision of the NWQL production analytical units that conduct fee-for-service environmental chemical contaminant analyses of water, sediment, and tissue samples collected by USGS Water Science Centers and other Mission Area and Federal Agency partners. We are looking for an experienced and dynamic individual with strong technical, communication, and management skills.  The incumbent will collaborate with the Strategic Laboratory Science Branch (SLSB) to implement next-generation analytical methods on an array of existing and emerging contaminants.

Other AS Chief duties include development of workforce plans and the annual NWQL pricing model, participation in the International Program, coordinating implementation of quality assurance/quality control practices to assure data quality and integrity, ensuring consistent, effective transition of research methods into production, and ensuring that NWQL laboratories are operated and maintained in a safe and responsible manner by complying with all relevant regulations and ordinances.

The NWQL Assistant Chief works with the NWQL Lab Chief and Management Team to develop the strategic vision for the laboratory.  As a senior manager at the NWQL, the incumbent provides oversight and leadership for scientific and technical vision, policy development and business development to ensure continued excellence of the NWQL.  The incumbent leads a team of scientists that work with method development principal investigators to develop, validate and document new methods, and to transition those methods into production, fee-for-service analysis.  The incumbent ensures excellence in the strategic and operational management of Quality Assurance Section (QAS) within the NWQL by providing oversight and leadership of scientific, technical, and policy processes to ensure continued excellence of Quality Assurance activities.  The incumbent ensures excellence in the logistical operation of facilities management and sample login services by providing oversight and leadership to the Facilities and Login units at the NWQL. The incumbent will serve as the liaison in dealing with GSA, other agencies, and WMA Water Science Centers regarding issues, commitments, and matters that need senior management attention.

The NWQL is the WMA’s flagship laboratory: it analyzes approximately forty thousand water, sediment, and tissue samples annually. These samples are analyzed for hundreds of chemical constituents and physical properties and approximately 2 million individual analytical results are produced each year. These results are used by USGS scientists, partners, and stakeholders to evaluate the quality of the Nation's water resources, their suitability for use as drinking-water supplies, to assess the health of aquatic ecosystems, and study the impacts of human activities and climate change on water quality temporally and spatially. 

The LASD currently employs about 110 employees and 30 contractors, has a total budget of approximately $28M annually, and consists of 20 laboratories that range from large fee-for-service laboratories to smaller specialty labs that support WMA research on hydrologic, water-quality, and ecologic processes. The LASD is comprised of four Branches: Strategic Laboratory Science Division (SLSB), Quality Systems Branch (QSB), Projects Laboratory Branch (PLB), and the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL). The NWQL is located on the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood Colorado.

The position is being advertised as a GS-14 supervisory chemist with an annual salary of $122,941 (Step 01) to $159,823 (Step 10).  The position will be in Lakewood, Colorado. Details on this position can be found at the link on the USAJOBs website at:

• https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/651909900

Please note that the position will open for submission of applications on Monday, May 9, 2022 and will close two weeks later on Monday, May 23, 2022.  This job will close when we have received 75 applications which may be sooner than the closing date.