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GeoControl Systems, Inc.
BETS Transitioning

GeoControl Systems, Inc. (GCS) would like to thank all BETS Program Integration personnel who attended the Welcoming Event. For those who were unable to attend, we will be providing all of the meeting handouts here, as well as some of the Q&A. The Q&A will be updated as we get more questions in.

Welcome Event Handouts:

Q&A

1. There is concern that the draft task orders do not identify or recognize the tasks currently performed by ISS Configuration Management/Data Management. Many of the CM/DM team members fear this will automatically limit their opportunities.

GCS received an additional draft task order from our customer titled "Configuration/Data Management". The task order labor resource requirement specifies eight (8) positions. All incumbent personnel providing Change Management, Data Management, and Software Configuration Management are encouraged to submit their resumes to hr@geocontrol.com with "BETS" (no quotation marks) and their name in the subject line on or before August 6, 2010. After the position descriptions for this new task order are made available on the jobs button of the GeoControl Systems web-site on August 11, 2010, we request that all interested incumbent personnel furnishing this type of support complete an employment application on or before August 16, 2010.

2. The tasks that I am responsible for on the Boeing ISS SCM contract do not appear on your task order sheets. These tasks include: on-orbit configuration status accounting, program changes, and acceptance reviews (FCA/PCA/SPOR). These are part of the sustaining engineering contract.

See response to question 1

3. I am a configuration management analyst that sits console in the ISS mission evaluation room. I perform configuration status accounting for Boeing sustained USOS hardware. I did not see a description of my position in the task order. Could you please clarify?

See response to question 1

4. Three weeks PTO inclusive of vacation and sick leave. Please clarify.

All regular, full-time employees are eligible to receive a paid-time-off benefit. This benefit allows employees to choose how they will utilize their time off. For example, employees who seldom use sick and personal days will have additional paid-time-off to address other personal needs.

Paid-time-off is accrued weekly and is based on years of service according to the schedule below. We will allow employees, under certain restrictions, to use paid-time off before it has actually been earned. This option permits new employees to maintain vacation plans made previous to their actual start date. The company requires employees who "borrow" against their paid-time-off account to instruct the company in writing to deduct from their last paycheck any unearned paid-time-off pay used. This rarely occurs, as negative balances are normally a temporary condition subsequently offset with the passage of time. We allow up to 520 paid-time-off hours to carryover from one calendar year to the next.

The paid-time-off accrual amount varies depending upon length of service. See below for information about this benefit.

  • 0 - 5 yrs: 120 hours per year
  • 6 - 10 yrs: 160 hours per year
  • 11+ yrs: 200 hours per year

5. If away on company travel during the interview dates, will there be a process or date to interview with the company.

Interviews will be held at the Boeing facility on Bay Area Blvd. on August 18th, 19th, and 20th. Prior to that time, personnel from the GCS office will contact the individuals that have completed employment applications to schedule convenient times for the interviews. If an applicant is unavailable during the designated days, an interview will be scheduled as soon as possible thereafter.

6. What is GeoControl Systems’s policy towards unused PTO? My current employer, MRI Technologies, pays their employees at the end of the year for any unused PTO. What is GCS's policy?

GCS recognizes that employees have diverse needs for time off from work. It is therefore the policy of GCS to grant paid time off to full-time employees. The benefits of PTO are that it promotes a flexible approach to time off. Employees are accountable and responsible for managing their own PTO hours to allow for adequate reserves if there is a need to cover vacation, illness, short-term disability, appointments, emergencies or other needs that require time off from work.

PTO is accrued or earned based on the employee’s length of service and on the time actually worked. In addition, unused PTO may be accrued up to, but not in excess of 520 hours.

Employees that have PTO balances, which for personal or business reasons they are not able to utilize, may request that they be allowed to cash out a portion of their already accrued PTO. Approval will be based on the needs of the employee and the specific environment of the contract in which they work.

When employment is terminated, employees will receive PTO pay for any unused PTO accrued at the time of termination.

7. Stowage – Not listed on payload integration task. Is it a part of this task order?

The task order titled "Payload Integration (Launch Package Management and Mission Integration) " includes a support requirement titled "Manifest". This part of the task order discusses interfacing with the CMC contractor about stowage requirements. Specifically, it says the following: "Coordinate with the CMC contractor to insure that Payloads stowage requirements are accurately reflected in the stowage requirements documentation. " Consequently, we have a requirement to ensure that Payload stowage requirements have been accurately captured.

8. My current task at Boeing is in support of space exploration engineering design and release system (EDRS). For convenience, I was brought in through GB Tech on the program integration contract. Has EDRS support been mentioned?

The task for EDRS development and support has been deleted as a result of reduced funding.

9. Should we expect updated task order information in the near future (prior to October 1) from you all?

Yes, the power point slides titled "BETS Program Integration Draft Task Order Review" will be updated to reflect information about the receipt of any new task orders.

10. Will GeoControl place the additional task order for CM/DM on the web-site?

Yes, see response to the previous question

11. In the briefing pitch dealing with the Draft Task Order Review data, I do not see the task order for the Program Integration – Program Office and CM/DM areas. I only see the Shuttle task orders and the Program Integration – Payload section.

See response to question 1

12. Will GCS call incumbents and let them know if they did NOT get picked for any position with GCS on 8/24/10?

We will schedule an interview with all incumbent personnel that complete an employment application. Also, we will contact all incumbent personnel that participate in an interview to let them know about whether to expect an employment offer or not to expect an employment offer. This will be done on 8/24/2010.

13. Some of the incumbents are concerned about their ability to complete the application form which requires salary history (beginning and ending) at previous jobs. How important is this data, particularly for long past years, and is this really required information? Will current salary be sufficient?

The most important information is the most recent data. If it has been too long ago to recall salary information, then an estimate will be fine.

14.Where would I find information about the salary range?

We do not provide salary range data with the postion descriptions. Our viewpoint or way of thinking about compensation is provided below:

Our compensation philosophy is to provide compensation that fairly reflects each invdividual's responsibilities and performance, which sufficiently motivates highter levels of individual achievement, and that competes with the total compensation levels and practices evident at similar companies in our industry and geographic area.

15.While not stated in a question, there has been some discussin about technical direction.

Please note that while all BETS PI personnel will report directly to the GCS Project Manager, all project and technical direction will come from the Boeing technical representatives. The GCS Project Manager, Pavan Rajagopal, will be responsible, in part, for all employee related matters including hiring, performance appraisal, discipline, training, and other like matters.

16.As part of the completion of the employment application, is it necessary to upload a resume if one has already been submitted?

No.