Job Description
Full Job Description
Duties
- Lead or support the preparation of detailed designs and specifications for engineering structures to be built, including structures on all watershed projects, stream stabilization, wetalnd restoration, or stream restoration.
- Review and check of preliminary and final designs and plans of structures and projects; streambank stabilization, wetland and stream restoration, wastewater ponds, floodwater retarding dams and debris basins with their appurtenant structures
- Provides direct assistance and training to NRCS state staff in areas ranging from the analysis and design of particularly unique or complex structural elements to deficiency reports.
- Field check designs of conservation engineering projects.
- Coordinates and conducts necessary quality assurance reviews of planned, designed, and constructed engineering projects in the assigned area/state, including, inspection and evaluation of structures in relation to engineering issues.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a US Citizen or US National.
- Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
- Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
- Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
- Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator’s license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.
Qualifications
BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
A. Degree: Applicants must have a bachelor’s or higher degree in Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. (Must submit transcripts)
OR
B. Combination of education and experience: Must have a combination of education and experience- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:
1) Professional registration or licensure – Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board’s eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions (Must submit proof of registration or licensure with you application);
2) Written Test – Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico (Must submit proof of passing written test with your application);
3) Specified academic courses – Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A (Must submit transcripts);
4) Related curriculum – Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) (Must submit transcripts)
In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered:
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying:
GS -12 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties:
- Assist with review of preliminary and final designs and plans of structures and projects;
- Conduct pre-bid site showing;
- Approve construction schedules;
- Prepare receiving reports for plan estimates; and
- Assist with site investigations and feasibility studies
GS -13 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties:
- Support preparation of detailed designs and specifications for engineering structures to be built;
- Review and check preliminary and final designs and plans of structures and projects;
- Prepare cost estimates and recommends the most feasible plan for final decisions; and
- Conduct site investigations and feasibility studies.
There is no education substitution for specialized experience at the GS-12/13 grade levels. I N DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.