Home : Careers : Students : SSEP Student Employee Program

    STEM Student Employment Program (SSEP)

U.S. Citizenship Required

This program is a direct hire authority for undergraduate and graduate degree seeking students enrolled in scientific, technical, engineering, or mathematics majors. Students must be continuously enrolled on at least a half-time basis at a qualifying educational institution and be at least 16 years of age.

Appointments can be to NP or NR career track positions. Appointment duration can be temporary (NTE 1 year), term (up to 4 years), or flexible length term (expire 120 days after completion of the degree requirements). For students pursuing degrees that do not meet the OPM science and engineering qualifications requirements, appointments will be made to NR career track positions that are temporary (NTE 1 year).

Students can work full-time or part-time. Students may work year-round or during the summers and go on LWOP to return to school in the fall and spring.

Students in all NP positions, and in NR positions under term or flexible length term appointments may be non-competitively converted to a permanent NP career track position provided the OPM science and engineering qualification requirements are met and the candidate is otherwise eligible.

Students will earn 4 hours of annual leave and 4 hours of sick leave each pay period (prorated for part-time work schedules). Students may also be eligible for tuition assistance and/or relocation expenses.

GPA Requirement:
Students in the NP track (S&E majors) must maintain a 3.0 GPA (based on 4.0 scale) and students in the NR track (S&E Technical) are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA (based on 4.0 scale).

Tuition Assistance:
Students are eligible for payment of school tuition and books, provided the following conditions are met:
  • The student is pursuing a STEM major that meets OPM science and engineering qualifications requirements.
  • The division in which the student is employed fully intends to convert the student to a permanent position upon graduation.
  • The student agrees in writing that upon graduation, he/she will continue to work at NRL for a period equal to three times the length of time for which tuition assistance was paid.
Tuition is not a guaranteed benefit. Payment for tuition must be recommended by the student’s supervisor.

Contact NRL’s Human Resources Office at (202)767-3031 or by email nrl_ssep@us
.navy.mil.

To be considered for the SSEP, submit your resume and current transcripts as a single PDF below. Applications are accepted year-round. All applications and supporting documentation become the property of the Department of Navy and will not be returned once submitted. Do NOT include your social security number or date of birth.

Additional Information: 
Salary is set commensurate with selectee’s background, experience, and market considerations. The Naval Research Laboratory is under an approved Personnel Demonstration Project. To learn more about our Demonstration Project, as well as our benefits package, applicants are encouraged to visit NRL’s Careers web site at
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/careers



Equal Employment Opportunity: 
The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military status or other non-merit factor. 

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should include a reasonable accommodation request in the email with your application materials. If you are contacted for an interview, every effort will be made to meet the needs of your accommodation request. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. A reasonable accommodation is any change to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done that enables an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform job duties or receive equal access to job benefits.

NRL participates in E-Verify.