This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service. About the Position: The incumbent will serve as a Civil Engineer (Geotechnical),responsible for soil-rock investigations, geotechnical analysis, design, inspections, assessments of projects being planned, constructed or operated by the Pittsburgh District. This position is located in Pittsburgh, PA.

Duties

Conduct and direct design studies and computations of features concerning principles of geotechnical engineering. Utilize computer software and applications necessary for the completion of the project and properly integrates other mathematical and graphical methods. Design and direct installation of instrumentation to determine the magnitude of consolidation, lateral movement, and pore pressures within structural foundations, earth embankments, and native materials. Create, maintain, and modify instrumentation data management systems for various projects and coordinates efforts with technicians and engineers. Manage as the lead engineer or provides geotechnical engineering expertise to the design project delivery team through various phases of a design projects. Prepare government estimates, scopes of work, and requests for proposals and manages and tracks the progress and adequacy of work assigned to Architectural Engineer contractors. Act as the technical liaison between project managers, contracting officers, and Architectural Engineer contractors. Assist in executing Division-wide programs including the Dam Safety Program, Levee Safety program, Workload Sharing, and Agency Technical Review. Inspect geotechnical features of completed dams, levees, floodwalls, and navigation structures and provide comprehensive evaluations of geotechnical features to evaluate adequacy of design, and make recommendations for remedial actions. Analyze slope and structure stability, develop remedial stabilization measures and associated grading plans for remedial treatments. Directs field investigations involving various aspects of geotechnical engineering including installation of geotechnical monitoring instrumentation: development of specialized laboratory testing programs to determine soil and rock design parameters.

Requirements

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires incumbent to possess or obtain and maintain a valid state motor vehicle license.
• To be hired as a GS 12 you must have a Professional Engineer (PE) License. If hired at the GS 11 level and you do not have a PE you will be required to obtain a Professional Engineer License for promotion to the GS-12.
• You may be required up to 15% temporary duty away from the permanent duty station.
• Appointment to this position is subject to a one-year probationary period unless the appointee has previously met the requirements as described in 5 CFR Part 315.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Basic Requirement for Civil Engineer (Geotechnical) A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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. 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 (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. 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, or Puerto Rico. 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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program. 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 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. GS-11 Grade Level Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes 1)assisting in geotechnical investigations, evaluations, and design; 2)helping to prepare plans and specifications for contracts; and 3)supporting senior geotechnical engineers with engineering support during construction. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09). OR Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Geotechnical. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. GS-12 Grade Level Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes 1) independently completing geotechnical investigations, evaluations, analysis, design, and construction support; 2) preparing plans and specifications; and 3) scheduling and resource distribution for projects. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11). Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job at the GS-12 grade level, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Education

For this job at the GS-12 grade level, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.


FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show 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://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/

Contacts

• Address RE-W2SM04 US ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT-PITTSBURGH DO NOT MAIL Pittsburgh, PA 15222 US
• Name: Army Applicant Help Desk