Do you aspire to use your engineering or science background to serve on the cutting edge of innovation? Now you can, by being the first to examine new inventions to determine and grant patents as a Patent Examiner at America's Innovation Agency! >> EXPLORE becoming a patent examiner >> MEET our diverse employees >> LEARN key details about the role *** The Patent Examiner (Electrical Engineer) position may include a $20,000 recruitment bonus (with a 20 month service commitment). ***

Duties

Patent examiners may choose to perform their duties throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. As a U.S. patent examiner, you will use your specialized background to review applications to determine whether patents can be granted for inventions. Patents give inventors the right to exclude others from making or selling their inventions for a limited time. That means that patent examiners are essential to protecting American innovation! As a patent examiner, you will spend your time:

Requirements

• Applicants must be United States Citizens or Nationals.
• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related competencies.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
• Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
• You must be suitable for Federal Employment.

Qualifications

You must meet the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. OPM's prescribed Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Patent Examiner Series, GS-1224,can be found at OPM Patent Examiner Series 1224 BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To be considered for this position, you must have either: (A) successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering; OR (B) a combination of qualifying education and experience. 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, 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. The curriculum must: 1. Be 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: 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 to particle and aggregate structure to properties); g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics or electronics OR B) A combination of Education and Experience. This combination of college-level education, training and/or technical experience must have furnished both: - A thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering; AND a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their application to professional engineering. This can be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration-- Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico. 2. Written test-- Evidence of passing the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration, administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in various States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses-- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours in the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences and including the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum-- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of an Engineering degree, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience with professional engineering supervision and guidance. For documentation requirements, see REQUIRED DOCUMENTS. GS-7: A) Superior Academic Achievement (SAA).This can be defined by one of the following: 1) Class standing-Upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the "School of Engineering and Applied Science" or "College of Science and Technology" based on completed courses. 2) Grade point average (GPA) as recorded on the final transcript- 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on the official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. The GPA is rounded to one decimal place. (2.95 = 3.0 and 2.94 = 2.9). The final transcript must cover the period being used to determine the GPA. 3) Honor Society membership--Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society. Click here for a list of qualified honor societies. B) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying basic engineering and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc. OR C) Have at least one year of graduate level education from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements. If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. OR D) Have less than the full amount of graduate education as described in "C" above and less than the amount of experience described in "B" above, but have a combination "B" and "C" above. GS-9: A) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying intermediate engineering and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc. OR B) Have a combination of education and experience. I possess at least a bachelor's degree in engineering AND have experience applying engineering principles and theories in the engineering field OR C) Have at least two years of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements. If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. OR D) Have less than the full amount of education described in "C" above and less than the amount of experience described in "A" above, but have a combination of the type of graduate education described in "C" above and experience described in "A" above. GS-11: A) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service (1) Interpreting and applying advanced electrical engineering and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; or (2) Planning and conducting technical research to draft technical papers; or (3) Applying appropriate references and case law to claimed inventions. OR B) Have at least three years of progressively higher level in graduate level education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements. If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. OR C) Have less than the full amount of graduate education described in "B" above and less than the amount of experience described in "A" above, but have a combination of the type of graduate education described in "B" above and experience described in "A" above.

Education

If this position requires proof of higher education, or you are substituting education for experience, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp for more information. You are not required to submit official documents at this time; copies are sufficient.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: 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 in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Contacts

• Address PATS - Deputy Commissioner for Patents Office of Human Resources Mail Stop 171 P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 US
• Name: Lanett Williams
• Phone: 571-272-6161
• Email: [email protected]