EconDefense
ACQ-25 / Workforce and expertise

Direct-hire laboratory scientists, engineers, students and qualified veterans

STRL directors can appoint eligible specialists outside ordinary competitive hiring procedures, convert qualifying students and manage lab workforce within budget.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-25 · People & expertise
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4091

Authority holder: Directors of designated STRLs; specified research/test directors for covered positions

People & expertise

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Position and candidate must fit scientific/engineering, veteran STEM or student categories.
  • Annual caps by category based on prior-year filled positions; senior technical positions have separate limits.

Limits & exclusions

  • Budget control remains; exclusion from personnel limits does not cover SES or scientific/professional §3104 positions.
  • Other preserved civil-service requirements remain.

Funding conditions

  • Existing laboratory personnel funds; no automatic additional funded billets.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • STRL director and technical managers

Resources

  • Laboratory personnel budget

Approval

  • Director under statutory eligibility/numerical rules

Execution

  • Laboratory HR and appointing official

Partners & review

  • Service civilian-personnel offices; candidates

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Technical manager → laboratory HR verifies degree/veteran/student eligibility and remaining allocation → director appointment.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4091Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
  • 10 U.S.C. §4121Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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