Requirements
Conditions of employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
- Direct Deposit participation required.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
- Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
- Professional Engineering registration is required by Reclamation Policy (GS-12 level only).
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.
This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
Qualifications:
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
Minimum Qualifications: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following:
Basic Education: In addition to the specialized experience requirements, you must meet at least one of the following:
A. Degree: 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: 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
B. 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, Engineer in Training1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer by any State, 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.
2. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering 2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
3. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in 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.
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.
AND
Minimum Qualifications for GS-11: To qualify at GS-11, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in
difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-9 level in Federal Service having demonstrated
professional experience performing a minimum of
two or more of the following:
- Developing preliminary and final designs and specifications, cost estimates for new or rehabilitation of electrical equipment and systems water storage, water conveyance structures and/or distribution facilities (e.g., dams, pumping plants, transmission systems, power generation systems, connected electrical facilities, switchyards, substations, water conveyance, treatment, and/or storage systems);
- Preparing comprehensive electrical design and solving construction problems and other engineering issues;
- Performing technical review of electrical design analysis, plans and specifications for contract documents, studies, reports, etc. to ensure accuracy, technical feasibility, and compliance with various agencies; OR
- Designing or preparing technical specifications related to communications networks including optical carriers, local-area networks, mobile radio systems, telephone systems, telemetry systems, fire alarm and security systems and/or analyzing, troubleshooting, testing, evaluating, optimizing, and/or programming control systems (e.g.: PLCs and SCADA) used to operate water facilities.
OR
Education: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
OR
Combination of Graduate Education and Professional Experience: You may combine specialized experience and education to meet the minimum qualifications. Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. For example, an applicant with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to GS-7 (50 percent of the experience requirement for GS-9) and 27 semester hours of appropriate graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement for GS-9, in excess of that required for GS-7) would be
qualified for a GS-9 position (assuming that there is no evidence that the attended college or university requires more than 18 semester hours as equivalent to a year of graduate study).
Minimum Qualifications for GS-12: To qualify at GS-12, you must possess a Professional Engineering License
and one full year of
professional experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in Federal Service having demonstrated specialized experience performing a minimum of
two or more of the following:
- Managing or advising on data collection and preliminary and final electrical designs and specifications and cost estimates for new or rehabilitation of electrical equipment and systems related to water structures and/or distribution facilities (e.g., dams, pumping plants, transmission systems, power generation systems, connected electrical facilities, switchyards, substations, water conveyance, treatment, and/or storage systems);
- Planning/leading complete design projects for electrical equipment and systems at pumping plants, water/wastewater treatment plants, switchyards, industrial plants, dams, involving various auxiliary equipment and systems;
- Solving design/construction problems, and other engineering issues and performing technical review of electrical design analysis, plans and specifications for contract documents, studies, reports, etc. to ensure accuracy, technical feasibility, and compliance with various agencies; OR
- Managing, leading, reviewing, designing or preparing technical specifications related to communications networks including optical carriers, local-area networks, mobile radio systems, telephone systems, telemetry systems, fire alarm and security systems and/or analyzing, troubleshooting, testing, evaluating, optimizing, and/or programming control systems (e.g.: PLCs and SCADA) used to operate water facilities.
Education
This position has a mandatory education requirement.
You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications
Additional information
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)
If otherwise 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. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a recruitment or relocation incentive.
All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here,
DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.
Physical Demands/Work Environment: The work is typically performed in an office setting with no special physical demands. However, work may also be performed in the field which involves periods of moving about worksites, bending, climbing, or driving motor vehicles to worksites. The work is usually performed in an office setting. However, work time may also be spent periodically visiting field sites. Field site visits are 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 noise, fumes, and moving machinery. Both settings may require the use of personal protective equipment. The work may also involve some overnight travel for training, meetings, and site visits. 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 acts, unsafe conditions, and accidents to the supervisor.
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.
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.
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 assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.
Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.
In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of the USA Hire Assessment, if required.
All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.
DUE WEIGHT: Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.
Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.