Rail Inspector (Yardmaster)

Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualifications" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

• Serve as the Contracting Officers Representative (COR) with responsibility for establishing and maintaining the official position on all rail maintenance related support contracts.
• Develop and execute rail maintenance annual work plans and objectives.
• Perform preventative maintenance and safety inspections as required by regulation.
• Make recommendations on actions to correct deficiencies or direct a track operational closure.
• Utilize a working knowledge of standard basic on the ground hand tool rail maintenance as well as repair procedures using rail mounted heavy duty equipment.
• Maintain log of rail activities and prepares required movement reports.
• Review and analyze rail data and make recommendations to improve processes and overall rail operations.
• Document all inbound and outbound rail movement by utilizing computer programs.
• Route car and load specifications to commercial carrier employee for input into commercial system.

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Incumbent will be required to submit a financial disclosure.
• Incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain a valid driving license.
• Incumbent may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period.
• Incumbent may be required to travel up to 10% to perform duties/attend training.
• This position requires the employee to use personal protective equipment provided by the employer.
• The incumbent of this position requires Department of Defense (DoD) Track Inspector certification within 6 months of entry.
• Incumbent will be required to undergo an initial, and annual, physical.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Current Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

There is no specific length of training or experience required. However, you must be able to demonstrate, through experience shown in your written application materials that you possess the sufficient knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the work of this position without more than normal supervision.

Minimum Qualifications (Screen Out Element): Ability to do the work of an Rail Inspector (Yardmaster) without more than normal supervision. Perform the majority of the duties to move trains, to including spotting, removing, switching, coupling/uncoupling and weighing of cars, and inspection of rail for minor deficiencies. - Failure to meet this Screen Out Element will result in an ineligible rating.

• Ability to Drive Safely (Motor Vehicles)
• Ability To Inspect
• Ability To Interpret Instructions, Specifications, etc. (related to mobile equipment operation)
• Ability To Operate Safely (Non-Motor Vehicle)
• Operation of Motor Vehicles
• Reliability and Dependability as a Rail Inspector (Yardmaster)
• Work Practices (includes keeping things neat, clean, and in order)

• Work requires considerable standing and walking while outside checking yard operations and performing visual inspections of tracks. Some light lifting is required.
• Inside work is done in a moderately lighted and heated building. Outside work involves exposure to all weather extremes, and to loud noise, dust, fumes, and exhaust. Work involves proximity to moving trains and mechanical equipment. Work assignments involve a thorough knowledge of hazardous material handling and related activities. Incumbent is required to successfully complete a variety of hazardous material classes. There is a possibility of exposure to hazardous chemicals and fumes from spills and/or leaks. Incumbent may be required to wear protective clothing (e.g., rubber boots, safety shoes, headgear, coveralls, goggles, aprons, gloves, respirator, etc.).

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position.

You may claim Military Spouse preference.

You may claim Priority Placement Program (PPP) preference.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Checklist for Internal/Merit Promotion Announcements

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• For each relevant work experience, make sure you include the employer's name, job title, start and end dates (include month and year), for qualifications purposes, the number of hours worked per week, and a brief description that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement. If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• Use plain language. Avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood. The hiring agency will not make assumptions about what's in your resume.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations, and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For additional information, to include formatting tips, see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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