This position is located at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Conservation Engineering Division. This position serves as National Design Engineer and is responsible for providing national leadership, direction, and coordination for design engineering, dam safety, water, soil and related land resources project nationwide for NRCS.

Duties

Serves as NRCS expert, providing leadership for design engineering activities in established conservation application programs and stream corridor and watershed restoration. Formulates and recommends national policy and guidelines for the planning, investigation, design, implementation, and operation and maintenance of conservation engineering systems and practices. Provides technical leadership and direction in the development and implementation of national policies pertaining to the rehabilitation and operation and maintenance of the conservation water resources infrastructure of the United States. Represents NRCS or USDA on interagency committees, professional society committees, and provides guidance to other national organizations as an authoritative source for NRCS and USDA on policies and procedures related to design engineering. Assists the Director of the Conservation Engineering Division in the assessment of design capabilities of various design staffs within the Agency for the purposes of assigning Engineering Approval Authority. Define, interpret, formulate, and advise on agency policy and guidance regarding operational and maintenance procedures used in dams and/or flood, water control, and irrigation structures.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.
• Must provide licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A. Degree: Applicants must have a bachelor's or higher degree in 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. (Must submit transcripts) OR B. Combination of education and experience: Must have a 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 (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 (Must submit proof of registration or licensure with you application); 2) 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 (Must submit proof of passing written test with your application); 3) 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 (Must submit transcripts); 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) (Must submit transcripts) In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying: Specialized Experience for the GS-14: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Recommending policy changes to improve processes of engineering work quality; Working with multiple offices on solutions to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of engineering products and/or services; Making recommendations to Senior Leadership regarding agency engineering criteria and policy pertaining to the design, construction, repair, rehabilitation and decommissioning of dams, and other complex engineering work; AND Working closely with multiple offices on engineering problems to ensure that structures conform to rules and regulations. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) Specialized Experience for the GS-15: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-14 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Developing engineering criteria, guidelines, standards, and methodology to plan and install engineering practices efficiently; Drafting policy to improve processes for execution, review, and assurance of the quality of engineering work performed; Representing an Agency, national organization or company on committees, professional society committees by providing guidance on policies and procedures; Making recommendations to Senior Leadership regarding agency engineering criteria and policy pertaining to the design, construction, repair, rehabilitation and decommissioning of dams, and other complex engineering work; AND Working closely with multiple offices on engineering problems to ensure that structures conform to rules and regulations. There is no education substitution for specialized experience at the GS-14/15 grade levels. 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). 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series

Education

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration. 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.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the 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. For further information, visit: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Midwest Services Branch
• Phone: 8164265706
• Email: [email protected]