A category of excepted service appointment that is applicable to positions that are not of a confidential or policy-determining character, and that are not in the Senior Executive Service, but for which it is impracticable to apply competitive examining requirements (e.g., qualification standards). (DEO Handbook Glossary and 5 CFR 213.3102)

A category of excepted service appointment that is applicable to positions that are of a confidential or policy-determining nature. Agencies must obtain authorization from OPM to make a Schedule C appointment. (DEO Handbook Glossary and 5 CFR 3302)

A knowledge, skill or ability (KSA), competency, or special qualification without which a candidate could not perform the duties of a position in a satisfactory manner. Selective factors are applied in addition to minimum qualifications. Applicants who do not meet a selective factor are ineligible for further consideration. (DEO Handbook Glossary)

An NIH employee who has been granted tenure by the Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR), after review and recommendation by the NIH Central Tenure Committee or the Senior Biomedical Research Service Policy Board. Tenure represents a long-term commitment of independent resources, including salary, operating budget, personnel, and space, for the conduct of an independent basic, clinical, or epidemiological research program in an IC; research resources are adjusted based on scientific merit. (NIH OIR)

An NIH employee on either a permanent (Title 5 or Commissioned Corps) or indefinite appointment (Title 42(f) after Title 5 exhaustion has been certified) who has been selected via a Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR)-approved national search. A Senior Scientist/Senior Clinician is a manager of a large IC program/department with responsibility for substantial resources and may be assigned independent resources, which are subject to review by the IC Board of Scientific Counselors. (NIH OIR)

An observable competence to perform a learned psychomotor act. (OPM Classification & Qualifications)

An NIH employee appointed to a time-limited, renewable appointment or, by exception on a permanent appointment for retention and recruitment reasons. A Staff Scientist usually has a doctoral degree and is selected by the Institute or Center (IC) to support the long-term research of a Senior Investigator with outstanding Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) reviews. Staff Scientists do not receive independent resources, although they often work independently and have sophisticated skills and knowledge essential to the work of the laboratory. A subset of Staff Scientists includes Facility Heads, who independently manage a substantial core facility, e.g., a sequencing laboratory or an NMR facility that provides central support for more than one Senior Investigator. Staff Scientists should be capa new research programs. (NIH OIR)

A program under which the agency may agree to repay (by direct payments on behalf of the employee) any student loan previously taken out by such employee. Payments are made subject to such terms, limitations, or conditions as may be mutually agreed to by the agency and employee concerned, except that the amount paid by an agency under this section may not exceed: $10,000 for any employee in any calendar year; or a total of $60,000 in the case of any employee. An employee selected to receive benefits under this section must agree in writing, before receiving any such benefit, that the employee will remain in the service of the agency for a period specified in the agreement (not less than three years). (5 USC 5379)

Appointment of an individual to a General Schedule position at a step above the first step of the grade based on the employee's superior qualifications or a special need of the agency for the employee's services. Agencies may set pay at the higher step only upon initial appointment or upon reappointment after a 90-day break in service. (OPM Pay & Leave)