Civil Engineer Job

Vacancy No. BLM-MT-25-12733232-DE-FRB Department Bureau of Land Management
Salary $40,332.00 to $79,443.00 Grade 5 to 9
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 5/14/2025 Close Date 5/28/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Billings, MTGlasgow, MTHavre, MTLewistown, MT


Summary

Positions are located in Billings, Glasgow, Lewistown, Havre, and/or Miles City, MT in the Division of Support Services. Applicants may be offered an alternative duty station, consistent with Bureau policy.

We expect to fill 3 vacancy/vacancies at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.


This position is concurrently open to Merit Promotion eligibles under Announcement BLM-MT-25-12733233-MP-FRB.

Duties

  • If selected below the full performance level, the incumbent will perform the duties of the position, with a reduced level of responsibility and/or difficulty while receiving on-the-job trainee assignments or other appropriate training.
  • Provide professional engineering, construction, and maintenance expertise for District administration sites, recreation sites, roads, buildings, dams, and bridges as well as range, watershed, recreation, wildlife, and other program activities.
  • Prepare cost and time estimates, work schedules, cost/benefit analyses, and feasibility studies for construction, maintenance, and land treatment contracts.
  • As Contracting Officer's Representative, prepare and monitor contract progress reports, change orders, modification justifications, and miscellaneous correspondence.
  • Interpret contract specifications and drawings and inspect contractor work making final engineering determinations regarding methods and materials.
  • Provide input into technical examinations, environmental analyses, and environmental impact statements for District actions. Prepare technical engineering and environmental protection stipulations as required for District actions.
  • Operate automated drafting, mapping, GPS, GIS, and other software specific to the performance of Civil Engineering duties to complete professional drawings from topographic (and other surveys), site, building, and building systems plans.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required
  • May be required to complete background investigation and drug screening.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males
  • Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • May require a one year probationary period.
  • Certification to serve as a Federal Acquisition Certification (FAC) COR or AOTR may be required as articulated in the Department and/or Bureau policies.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license.
  • Licensure as a Professional Engineer is required for promotion to the full performance level of a GS-12.

Qualifications

In order to qualify this Civil Engineer, you must meet BOTH the Basic and Additional qualification requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT for the 0810 series:
A. Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). NOTE: You must submit copies of your transcripts.
-OR-
B. Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a Bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering that included differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five (5) of the following seven (7) 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. NOTE: You must submit copies of your transcripts.
-OR-
C. Completed 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, and that included the courses specified in B above. These courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program. NOTE: You must submit copies of your transcripts.
-OR-
D. Successfully completed a curriculum leading to a Bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field such as engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology AND have at least one year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. This must include 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. NOTE: You must submit copies of your transcripts.
-OR-
E. 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. Note: You must submit documentation of having passed the examination.
-OR-
F. Currently registered as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensed as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. This registration must have been obtained by written test OR be in general engineering or a directly related engineering field and was gained by State grandfather or eminence provisions NOTE: You must submit copies of your current registration.

-AND-
GS-05:
There is no Specialized Experience Requirement for either series at this grade. Must meet the Basic Qualification Requirement for either 0460 or 0810 series as stated above. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts.

GS-07:
A. One full year of specialized experience, comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following in a developmental capacity: (1) performing engineering analyses associated with segments of engineering assignments to include technical planning activities, data collection, and analyses of instrumentation data; (2) completing limited engineering designs; (3) interpreting and explaining basic computations and calculations; (4) participating in facility examinations, reviews and/or inspections.
-OR-
B. Successfully completed 1 full year of graduate level education. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts.
-OR-
C. Met the requirements for Superior Academic Achievement by earning a bachelor's degree with at least one of the following (1) a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher based on a 4.0 scale; (2) a 3.5 GPA or higher for required courses completed in a major field of study during junior and senior year of a 4-year college or university; (3) class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or a major subdivision of the college, such as the College of Liberal Arts, based on completed courses; or (4) membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies. In order to be creditable under this provision, superior academic achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position being filled. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts.

GS-09:
A. One full year of specialized experience, comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following in a developmental capacity: (1) providing engineering, construction, and maintenance expertise for the layout, location, and design of roads, buildings, wells, pipelines, dams, and culverts with assistance; (2) assisting with preparation of cost and time estimates for civil construction and maintenance projects; (3) assisting in determinations on whether civil construction progress complies with contracts through inspection; (4) operating automated drafting, mapping, global positioning system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS) and other software to complete professional civil drawings.
-OR-
B. Successfully completed 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts.
-OR-
C. Have an equivalent combination of the specialized experience and graduate level education described above. (To calculate your combined amount, first determine the amount of your specialized experience as a percentage of the requirement listed in A above. Then determine the amount of your graduate education in excess of one full year (18 semester hours) as a percentage of the requirement listed in B above; then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.) This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of transcripts.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN 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).

Education

Volunteer Experience: 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Additional information

This position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GS-12. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, and the availability of higher-level work. Licensure as a Professional Engineer is required for promotion to the full performance level of a GS-12. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied.

Physical Demands: The work is typically performed in an office setting with no special physical demands. However, work is also performed in the field which involves periods of walking, stooping, bending, climbing, or driving motor vehicles to worksites. The work also involves some overnight travel for training, meetings, and site visits.

Working Conditions: The work is usually performed in both office and field settings. Field work is typically performed in either an outdoor setting subject to weather changes, diverse terrain, and safety hazards associated with working around complex features and/or construction, or an industrial setting subject to notice, fumes, and moving machinery. Both settings may require the use of personal protective equipment. Safety precautions and protocols are observed at all times and the incumbent complies with safety instructions and regulations and ensures individual and others' safety by promptly reporting unsafe act, unsafe conditions, and accidents to the supervisor.

The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. The selectee may be allowed to situationally telework with supervisor approval.

Tax Law Impact for PCS: Moving expenses reimbursement is a taxable benefit. However, the Federal Travel Regulation 18-05 issued by General Services Administration has authorized agencies to use the Withholding Tax Allowance and Relocation Income Tax Allowance to pay for "substantially all" of the increased tax liability resulting from the "2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" for certain eligible individuals.

Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive or Student Loan Repayment.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact Felicia Bradfute at fbradfute@blm.gov.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, including a subject matter expert (SME) resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Project Management
  • Technology Application

Required Documents

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 05/28/2025.

  1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade.
  2. A complete Occupational Questionnaire
  3. College transcripts.
  4. Other Supporting Documents, if applicable, such as:
  • Veterans Preference Documentation:
    • If you are a Discharged, Non-Disabled Veteran, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 showing character of discharge (Member 4 copy), or other Documentation of Service and Separation under Honorable Conditions, as listed on the SF15. If you don't have your DD-214, you may request it after discharge from the National Archives.
    • If you are a veteran within 120 days of discharge, you must submit signed documentation from the Armed Forces certifying: 1) your expected release/retirement from active duty, 2) under honorable conditions, 3) your pay grade/rank/rate at time of discharge, 4) dates of active duty service, 5) any campaign or expeditionary medals received, & 6) dated within 120 days of your separation.
    • If you are a Disabled Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient, or Mother or Spouse of a Disabled or Deceased Veteran, you must submit all additional proof required by the SF15, and if applicable, a completed SF15. You may request a copy of your Department of Veterans Affairs letter from www.ebenefits.va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000 to establish proof of disability.
    5. Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration if you are a displaced Federal employee within the local commuting area. You must include: 1) Proof you are a displaced Federal employee, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be rated well-qualified or above 90 on the rating criteria for this position.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position: You must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To receive consideration, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 05/28/2025. WE DO NOT ACCEPT HARD-COPY OR E-MAIL APPLICATION PACKAGES.

  1. Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account.
  2. Prompted to Start the Application Process by selecting "Start Application."
  3. Select or add the resume you want to use for this application. Click here on how to build a resume in USAJOBS.
  4. Select documents you want included in this application.
  5. Review package to acknowledge your documents were reviewed.
  6. Select if you want to include your demographic information.
  7. After reading and certifying the application is true and submitted in good faith, select "Continue to Agency Site."
  8. Follow onscreen prompts and instructions to complete your application.
  9. Add the supporting documents by indexing your documents with the dropdown.
    • Upload any missing required documents or optional documents.
  10. Review and Submit Application.
  11. While logged in, you can check the status of your application by selecting "+" next to the job title for this position.
  12. You can review or revise your application at any point during the open period of the announcement.
    • To update an application, you should log into your USAJOBS account and select "+" next to the job title for this position. Select "Update Application" for this job.
    • Note: When you click Update Application, you will be prompted to re-select your documents from USAJOBS. Documents submitted with the first application will no longer be associated with the applicant record. So it is important that you select all documents you want to use in the re-application.
  13. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (Welcome | Login.gov), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to.

Agency contact information

Felicia Bradfute
Address
BLM Montana State Office
BLM Montana State Office, MT-933
Branch of Human Resources
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, MT 59101
US

Next steps

Once the Occupational Questionnaire is received you will receive acknowledgement that your submission was successful. If you are among the most qualified candidates and your name is referred to the hiring official, you may be contacted directly for a possible interview. You will be notified of the status of your Application Package at the time candidates are referred for consideration, and when the selection process is complete.

More than one position may be filled from this announcement, at the discretion of Federal hiring officials. Department of the Interior may share the list of eligible candidates with other Federal agencies/departments, authorized to appoint new employees under the same hiring procedures if the position is in the same: job series, grade level, promotion potential, and in the same geographic locations (including the same metro/commuting area) provided herein. You will have the opportunity to "opt-in" to appear on a shared list. "Opt-in" does not guarantee your application will be shared, but you will be contacted in the event your application is shared.

Additional Locations

  • Miles City, MT


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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