Employee independently plans and carries out assignments, handling problems encountered in accordance with previous training and accepted practices. Completed work is reviewed for technical soundness and conformance with requirements. Guidelines include procedural manuals, technical literature, and government and commercial standards. Guides do not always specifically apply, so employee must use judgment to evaluate, select, and adapt the established guides to specific requirements and problems. Employee analyzes results to ensure that selections and adaptations are valid.
Assignments deal with a variety of issues and involve various determinations.
Employee considers various factors such as the physical properties, information requested, and the expected results to select appropriate established methods to use. Usually problems encountered can be solved by minor modification of established methods and procedures. Work involves physical analyses and testing for routine or limited projects, or may include routine portions of broader studies. Completed work affects the technical adequacy and acceptability of the operations of the unit. Personal contacts are with other scientists, computer specialists, technicians, engineers, and managers in the agency.