Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205) for this occupation.

Typical duties include but are not limited to: The Senior Resident Engineer (SRE) is the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Office of Construction and Facility Management (CFM) on-the-ground team lead for a construction project. The construction contracts are mostly Design-Bid-Build or Design-Build through there are cases where other contract types could be utilized for construction delivery. CFM is always the owner of the construction project and serves as Construction Agent for most projects, however CFM does partner with various Non-Department Federal Entity (NDFE - e.g. GSA, USACE, etc) to serve as Construction Agent within both the Leasing and Major construction programs, when required or in the best interest of DVA.

SRE functions include participating and/or leading design management with the CFM PM and VAMC stakeholders, especially for Design-Build projects; monitoring various ongoing construction activities and schedule for conformance with phasing, contract provisions, and specifications; coordinating and overseeing various civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural aspects of major construction; checking easements, pertinent deeds, local code requirements, and restrictions; coordinating various phases of construction with the VA Medical Center Director or assigned representative and staff to minimize disruption to ongoing hospital activities and for overall patient and worker's safety. All utility service tie-ins and outages will be coordinated with he associated VA Medical Center to minimize disruption to ongoing operations.

The major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Interact with the CFM PM and Schedule Consultant to help determinate recovery of lost time due to unanticipated events (weather, delays in material shipments, unanticipated site work problems, etc.)
• Monitors the safety of the construction area.
• Coordinates with local stakeholders and VA Central Office staff.
• Recommends solutions to resolve unusual or unique problems related to hospital design or unanticipated issues that occur during the actual construction of facilities.
• Expected to identify potential construction related issues to the SRE and review comments from other professionals in a formal response to Architect Engineer (A/E) firms when necessary.
• Assist the VAMC with Initial Outfitting and Transition, including coordination of construction schedule with activation schedule; conducts typical inspections, participates in partial, pre-final.
• Assist with final inspections.
• Reviews Operations and Maintenance manuals, equipment training, warranty and guarantee information, as-built drawings, and helps process all document turnover to facility.
• Administers on-site construction, monitoring coordination of work.
• Oversee changes in project funding, scheduling, and scope; review updates and alerts the SRE of delays that may alter target dates.
• Maintains daily logs of work performed.
• Updates project information including keeping a photo library of progress.
• Reviewing submittals on contractor's proposed equipment and materials; and generating draft contract modifications for SRE review and signature.
• Develop estimates for modifications; maintain accurate, complete job files including as-built drawings and specifications.
• Review cost breakdown of contractor's payroll, schedules and invoices.
• Reviews schedules and delivery of building materials and construction equipment; monitor compliance with Davis Bacon Act provisions by reviewing prime and subcontractor payrolls.
• Helps coordinate commissioning activities for their area of assignment; tracks timely delivery of VAMC government-furnished property/equipment.
• Conducts post-occupancy inspections, as assigned; and participates end-of-warranty inspection with the VAMC.
• May support completion of administrative actions required to close out assigned projects both financially and administratively and provides input to the SRE.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm, with flexibility required to accommodate construction activities.
Compressed/Flexible: May be Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory General Engineer/PD1574297
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized
Mobility Agreement: Required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may 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.

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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/30/2026.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements:
All Professional Engineering Positions have Individual Occupational Requirements. Applicants must meet the basic requirements listed below.

• 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: (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. 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 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:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.)

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the specialized experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13 level) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. examples of specialized experience include: experience as a senior resident engineer over a major renovation, modernization or new construction project involving two or more types of medical facilities; experience as a supervisor for a team of matrix of engineering and architectural specialties; experience in contract administration for Federal major construction projects; experience in primary responsibilities to explain, plan, coordinate, defend justify or negotiate difficulties of interpretation of construction contract documents; experience in developing written responses to inquire requests for technical and administrative subjects and communicating job progress through verbal and writing means

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.


You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• General engineering
• Leadership
• Oral Communication
• Project Management
• Administration and Management

Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.


For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants' specialized experience must demonstrate the following::

• Collaborating effectively across departments, external agencies, and with contractors to generate innovative ideas and streamline processes
• Drives continuous improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities for efficiency and innovation across organizational boundaries and long-standing policies and procedures
• Demonstrates exceptional problem-solving skills with minimal supervision, consistently proposing creative and non-traditional solutions
• Negotiating tough agreements successfully, leveraging strategic thinking and persuasive communication
• Conducting award and post-award negotiations, such as supplemental agreements or settlement actions, and to ensure compliance with all relevant guidelines and regulations
• Preparing contractual documents for higher-level review
• Conducting meetings, negotiations, and providing guidance to management officials, contract administrators, and subordinate contract specialists
• Resolving complex procurement problems and providing expert advice on contractual matters

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from the locations listed for this vacancy. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center offices at those locations.

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), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Conflict Management
• General Engineering
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Leadership
• Manages Resources
• Oral Communication
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating
• Project Management

Supervisory Situational Judgement Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment, decision-making, and leadership competencies associated with effective supervision in a Federal work environment. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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; religions; 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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• Transcript

Other accepted documents:

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application. Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted. You will not be contacted for additional information.

Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.


During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Next steps

Additional locations