Civil Engineer Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. OCE-2025-347 Department Architect of the Capitol
Salary $84,601.00 to $156,755.00 Grade 11 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 7/29/2025 Close Date 8/13/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Office of the Chief Engineer. The selectee is responsible for projects involving the study, design, construction, inspection, testing of civil systems and their associated components including drainage; stormwater; retaining structures; site utilities such as water, sanitary, electrical, gas, thermal utilities; transportation systems such as roads, pedestrian paths and transit systems; and tunnels.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

See Requirements section of this announcement for information on who may apply.

Duties

This is a career ladder position requiring the incumbent to perform progressively more complex duties and responsibilities leading to the full performance level. Duties quoted at the GS-13 grade level.

Major Duties:

Civil Engineering Studies (10%)

  • Identifies investigations and tests to support the analysis and identification of a range of solutions to unique problems and challenges and serves as a technical resource for the execution of testing methods and procedures.
  • Performs research and analyzes results of investigations and testing to determine the causes, extent, urgency, and risks associated with the problem.
  • Identifies options and alternatives and provides an assessment of the varying benefits and risks with respect to feasibility of each option to include constructability cost, schedule, life cycle, operations, etc.

Civil Engineering Designs and Specifications (15%)

  • Participates with customers to develop project requirements.
  • Conducts site surveys of and prepares drawings of existing conditions in preparation for design efforts.
  • Analyzes requirements and design criteria, develops cost estimates, assures validation of requirements and evaluates schedules and the feasibility of project accomplishment.
  • Completes tasks in conformance with applicable regulatory requirements and agency polices standards and procedures.

Project Management (5%)

  • Serves as Contracting Officers Representative (COR). 
  • Prepares scopes of work, fee estimates, schedules and contract solicitation documents prior to award.
  • Prepares responses to offeror questions, conducts proposal evaluations and reports award recommendation.
  • During the period of contract performance, holds project meetings, maintains contract files, monitors work progress, ensures compliance with contract requirements, incorporates change orders, recommends approval of progress payments and final payment to the contractor and completes contract closeout process in compliance with AOC requirements.

Administer Programs (10%)

  • Reviews permit applications
  • Performs site investigations
  • Research utilities
  • Manages permit database
  • Issues Dig Permits

Project Technical Reviews (40%)

  • Supports Jurisdictions and Project Management to identify specific project objectives and requirements for project efforts for inclusion in Statements of Work.
  • Reviews and provides comments on Statements of Work to ensure discipline specific project objectives and requirements and as applicable, discipline specific key personnel qualifications and expertise are sufficiently identified
  • Reviews and provides comments on discipline specific design documents to include drawings, specifications and calculations at milestone submissions to identify design deficiencies with respect to project objectives and requirements and compliance with applicable agency standards. Additionally identifies discipline specific observable potential areas of concern with the proposed design submission with respect to clarity, completeness and accuracy of the design documents, consideration of existing conditions, risks associated with the proposed design, coordination with related disciplines, compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, industry standard design best practices, construction feasibility including phasing and sequencing, cost effectiveness of the proposed design, and operational and performance expectations.
  • Provides recommendations at the conclusion of the design phase with respect to the suitability of the design documents to be issued for bidding and construction.

Coordination with External Parties (10%)

  • In association with agency counsel and real property representatives as appropriate coordinates efforts that impact properties within the agency jurisdiction.
  • Reviews proposed projects to identify impacts and provide comments and represents the government to ensure the government’s interests are considered and addressed and that the impact to properties within the agency’s jurisdiction are managed to minimize adverse impacts both physically and operationally and benefits are optimized.
  • Briefs agency leadership on the status and impacts of upcoming and ongoing efforts undertaken by external parties which may impact properties within the agency’s jurisdiction to include physical and operational impacts.

Technical Advice and Guidance (10%)

  • Assists with project administration. Contributes to the resolution of technical difficulties that are amenable to changes in approach, criteria or requirements. 
  • Facilitates the resolution of project-related issues and concerns that arise at the Jurisdiction Superintendent level. Provides leadership of the project scope, schedule and budget concerns in the programming phase. 
  • Aids project managers in the commencement of their duties when project funding is enacted by facilitating internal meetings to review project requirements.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be able to pass a drug test.
  • Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
  • You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
  • You must meet the educational requirements for Engineers.

To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:

  • A citizen of the United States;
  • A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);
  • A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;
  • A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or
  • A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position.  You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.  Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions.  It is available for your review on the OPM web site at OPM qualification standards

Specialized experience: is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

For the GS-11:

Candidates for the GS-11 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-09) grade level in the Federal service which demonstrates at least 3 of the following:

  • Developing construction drawings and design criteria for civil engineering projects and managing projects from the preliminary planning stage through the design and construction phases.
  • Reviewing design documents, including statements of work, drawings, specifications and calculations to identify design deficiencies and areas for concern, and recommending solutions to resolve design and construction deficiencies and mitigate risks.
  • Performing project management and oversight of contractor performance to ensure compliance with organizational standards and ensuring all requirements are met.
  • Providing technical civil engineering guidance on new and existing construction and renovation projects (i.e., buildings, retaining walls, roads and pedestrian paths, tunnels, pipelines, water and sewerage systems, storm water management, waste disposal units, and gas and electrical services).
  • Serving as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent on engineering-related projects.

-OR-

3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

-OR–

An equivalent combination of the specialized experience and the graduate-level education described above.

For the GS-12:

Candidates for the GS-12 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-11) grade level in the Federal service which demonstrates at least 4of the following:

  • Developing construction drawings and design criteria for civil engineering projects and managing projects from the preliminary planning stage through the design and construction phases.
  • Reviewing design documents, including statements of work, drawings, specifications and calculations to identify design deficiencies and areas for concern, and recommending solutions to resolve design and construction deficiencies and mitigate risks.
  • Performing project management and oversight of contractor performance to ensure compliance with organizational standards and ensuring all requirements are met.
  • Providing technical civil engineering guidance on new and existing construction and renovation projects (i.e., buildings, retaining walls, roads and pedestrian paths, tunnels, pipelines, water and sewerage systems, storm water management, waste disposal units, and gas and electrical services).
  • Serving as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent on engineering-related projects.

For the GS-13:

Candidates for the GS-13 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-12) grade level in the Federal service which demonstrates all of the following:

  • Developing construction drawings and design criteria for civil engineering projects and managing projects from the preliminary planning stage through the design and construction phases.
  • Reviewing design documents, including statements of work, drawings, specifications and calculations to identify design deficiencies and areas for concern, and recommending solutions to resolve design and construction deficiencies and mitigate risks.
  • Performing project management and oversight of contractor performance to ensure compliance with organizational standards and ensuring all requirements are met.
  • Providing technical civil engineering guidance on new and existing construction and renovation projects (i.e., buildings, retaining walls, roads and pedestrian paths, tunnels, pipelines, water and sewerage systems, storm water management, waste disposal units, and gas and electrical services).
  • Serving as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent on engineering-related projects.

Education

In addition to meeting the specialized experience or education requirements for this position, all applicants must possess the following:

Education Required For Engineers:

Bachelor's degree in professional engineering: To be creditable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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: -- statics, dynamics; -- strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); -- fluid mechanics, hydraulics; -- thermodynamics; -- electrical fields and circuits; -- nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and -- any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

--OR--

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 professional 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: (a) current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico; (b) evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration; (c) successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences that are fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum; or (d) successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field.

Transcripts are required upon selection.

For a detailed explanation of the related curriculum or experience, please visit the following website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: 

Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment.

Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part of foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree.

You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing if selected.

Additional information

Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit OPM vet guide

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System.  If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.
 
DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC’s suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide, and cover the cost for the drug test.
 
The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol.
 
The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm
 
The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, genetic information, sexual orientation and/or disability.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.
 
Moving expenses are not authorized.
 
Relocation expenses may be authorized for non-federal employees.
 
Probationary Period- Selectee(s) is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol.

All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.

Note: Please be advised that federal retired annuitant candidates may only be considered as a temporary employee if the role can be filled in that capacity.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

A variety of health insurance plans; retirement system with investment options; paid holidays; paid sick and annual (vacation) leave; life insurance; incentive systems; subsidized transportation; training and development opportunities, etc.

The Architect of the Capitol offers eligible employees the opportunity to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program.

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.

Review your resume and responses carefully. Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your responses to job specific self-assessment questions.

Your resume will be evaluated based on evidence of your ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for this position, possession of any specialized experience, and how well your background and experience relates to the self-assessment questions in the job announcement. The self-assessment questions relate to the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies:

  • Knowledge of civil engineering design principles, processes, and practices.
  • Knowledge of relevant computer software programs for use in designing facilities, preparing drawings and documents, creating virtual models, performing analysis, calculating design factors, and managing projects.
  • Contract Administration
  • Analytical Skill
  • Oral and Written Communication

Your responses to the self-assessment questions serve as the basis for your initial rating. You will receive a numerical score based on your responses to these questions. Next, your responses will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and/or a subject matter expert against the information provided in your resume and optional cover letter. Your resume must support your answers to the self-assessment questions. 

Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or disqualification for further consideration.
Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

The Architect of the Capitol's job application process is designed to ensure that we only ask you for the information that is absolutely needed to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for the position.

To apply for this position, you only need to submit online the following: a) your resume and 2) answer the online vacancy assessment questionnaire. The online questionnaire contains eligibility and screening questions and other relevant supplemental information. No additional documentation or attachment is required at the time of application. 

We ask that you prepare and submit a resume that best describes fully your background experience, skills, abilities, education, training and other relevant credentials. The resume should include dates of employment.

Nothing further is required until it is requested by the staff of the Human Capital Management Division. If additional documentation is required for a position, you will be asked to provide it during the selection process or upon selection. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume.

For example, we may ask you to provide documents such as college transcripts, copy of diploma or proof of Federal employment status. If the position requires a license or certification, we will ask candidate(s) to provide proof at the time of selection.

If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of Veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, the SF-15 plus proof required by that form).

If you fail to provide the required documents, we will withdraw a tentative job offer made and/or remove you from further consideration.

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

You MUST apply online. FORMS RECEIVED BY FAX, EMAIL OR U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

If you are a new user to the USAJobs Site and have never registered for an account; you will first need to create an account profile with your basic contact information and a resume to begin applying. You must be a registered USAJobs user AND you must be signed-in to your account in order to apply for this position. For help setting up an account or for general help using USAJobs, go to USAJobs Help Page.

NEED HELP?
If you experience any difficulties with the application site, help is available! If you have problems completing your on-line application, contact the Monster Hiring Management Help Desk at 1-866-656-6831 or by e-mail at MGSHELP@monster.com. The help desk is available Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You may call and leave a voice mail message at all other times.

All required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJobs “Saved Documents” feature.
If you are unable to apply on-line, you may visit our Employment Center for technical assistance in entering your application. The Employment Center is located at 441 Second & D Streets S.W., Washington, D.C., Room H2-178, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You may call (202) 226-7000 for directions.

Agency contact information

Nyika Humphries
Address
Architect of the Capitol
United States Capitol
Washington, District of Columbia 20515
United States

Next steps

You will receive a notice generated by the USAJobs System when you have successfully submitted your application. We will review your application and transcript(s) (if you are qualifying based on education) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements.

You can check the status of your application by logging into http://www.usajobs.gov. You may also sign up to receive automatic emails anytime the status of your application has changed by logging into your USAJobs Account, editing your profile and changing the ‘Notification Settings’ to indicate that you want to be notified by email when the status changes. Information regarding the status of your application should be updated in the system within 2 weeks after the closing date of this job announcement.


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


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