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You are viewing a Dear Colleague Letter.

A Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is an informal correspondence which is written by a Requesting Office and distributed to communities within a specific program area, to attract individuals eligible under a Visiting Scientist, Engineer, and Educator (VSEE) appointment, an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignment and/or a Federal Temporary appointment. These letters may be circulated in paper form through internal mail, distributed electronically using listservs or accessed through NSF.gov’s Career Page.

Science Education Administrator (Program Director)

Division: Equity for Excellence in STEM (EDU/EES)
Directorate: STEM Education (EDU)
Job Type:
STEM
Appointment Type:
Temporary / Rotator
Pay Grade/Scale:
AD-04
This job is open to the public

Application timeline

Date Posted:
Closing date: Open until filled
Formal consideration of interested applicants will begin and will continue until a selection is made.

Position Summary

The Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES) announces a nationwide search for rotator Program Directors across several of its programs at the National Science Foundation. NSF Program Directors bear the primary responsibility for carrying out the Agency’s overall mission – to support innovative and merit-reviewed projects in basic research and education that contribute to the nation’s technical strength, security, and welfare. To discharge this responsibility requires not only knowledge in the appropriate STEM and education fields, but also a commitment to high standards, a considerable breadth of interest in and receptivity to new ideas, a strong sense of fairness, good judgment, and a high degree of personal integrity.

Formal consideration of applications will begin on May 30, 2024 and will continue until selections are made.

Position Description

EES is interested in candidates who have the knowledge and experience working with a diverse group of individuals, have expertise in one of the STEM disciplines or in STEM education, and in promoting diversity in STEM with emphasis on broadening participation of underrepresented groups and institutional capacity building. The successful candidates will have the ability to provide leadership across NSF and in the external scientific community.


The Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES) serves as a focal point for NSF's agency-wide commitment to enhancing the quality and excellence of STEM education and research through broadening participation by historically underrepresented groups - minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. Priority is placed on investments that promise innovation and transformative strategies that focus on creating and testing models that ensure the full participation of and provide opportunities for the educators, researchers, and institutions dedicated to serving these populations. Programs and activities within EES have a strong focus on partnerships and collaborations to maximize the preparation of a well-trained scientific and instructional workforce for the new millennium.

The position recruited under this announcement will be filled under the following appointment option(s):

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Assignment: Individuals eligible for an IPA assignment with a Federal agency include employees of State and local government agencies or institutions of higher education, Indian tribal governments, and other eligible organizations in instances where such assignments would be of mutual benefit to the organizations involved. Initial assignments under IPA provisions may be made for a period up to two years, with a possible extension for up to an additional two-year period. The individual remains an employee of the home institution and NSF provides the negotiated funding toward the assignee's salary and benefits. Initial IPA assignments are made for a one-year period and may be extended by mutual agreement. 

It is NSF policy that NSF personnel employed at or IPAs detailed to NSF are not permitted to participate in foreign government talent recruitment programs.  Failure to comply with this NSF policy could result in disciplinary action up to and including removal from Federal Service or termination of an IPA assignment and referral to the Office of Inspector General. https://www.nsf.gov/careers/Definition-of-Foreign-Talent-HRM.pdf.

Applications will be accepted from U.S. Citizens. Recent changes in Federal Appropriations Law require Non-Citizens to meet certain eligibility criteria to be considered. Therefore, Non-Citizens must certify eligibility by signing and attaching this Citizenship Affidavit to their application. Non-Citizens who do not provide the affidavit at the time of application will not be considered eligible. Non-Citizens are not eligible for positions requiring a security clearance.

To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Federal agencies may request information regarding the vaccination status of selected applicants for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as protocols related to masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in an appropriate STEM field supported by NSF plus, after the award of the Ph.D., six or more years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position.

Ideal candidates will have significant experience in STEM education teaching, broadening participation in research, and/or administration in higher education. Experience teaching and mentoring STEM students and/or doing STEM research at minority-serving institutions, community colleges, rural and urban institutions, and predominantly undergraduate institutions would be a strength.  The individual selected must be able to interact on a peer basis with senior scientific and managerial personnel throughout NSF, other Federal agencies, academia, and the private sector.

You will be evaluated on the extent and quality of your experience, education, and research relevant to the duties of the position. We strongly encourage you to specifically address the Quality Ranking Factors below. This will ensure that you receive full consideration in the evaluation process.

  1. Knowledge of, and experience in, promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to broaden participation of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in STEM educational programs and the STEM workforce. 
  2. Knowledge of research-based strategies to build high quality STEM education and research capacity at a range of institutions of higher education including minority-serving institutions and community colleges.
  3. Demonstrated ability to design, implement, evaluate, and manage complex programs and produce high quality, effective deliverables to achieve program and organizational objectives. 
  4. Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate and respectfully interact with diverse individuals in various STEM education and workforce settings and ability to do so with colleagues at all levels of expertise and seniority within NSF. 
  5. Expertise in one of the STEM disciplines including STEM education research and/or expertise as a STEM education practitioner and/or experience as an administrator of others with this expertise.

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