This position serves as a technical specialist and advisor providing engineering/geology-related support in the investigation of complex ground control problems and fatal roof/rib fall accidents, evaluation and application of ground support technology, design and use of cabs and canopies and automated temporary roof support (ATRS) systems, and remote sensing lineament analyses, and underground mine stress analysis and design. This position is inside the bargaining unit.

Duties

Serves as a Technical Support representative on accident investigation teams involved in ground control related accidents in coal, metal, and nonmetal mines. Provides expert advice and court testimony during hearings pertaining to ground control accident investigations. Develops training materials and services as a presenter for courses held for MSHA personnel and the mining industry. Utilize both technical and practical experience to evaluate the effectiveness of mine roof supports, establish criteria and/or specifications, and develop safe installation practices and procedures. Independently conducts or leads a team of engineers and geologists in conducting, engineering studies and/or geological evaluations of complex ground control problems. Provides ground control-related consulting and advisory services of a complex nature to MSHA, the mining industry and other government agencies. Authors and reviews drafts of technical manuscripts, evaluates current and proposed research projects, and suggests areas of research necessary to improve mine safety and to gain compliance with provisions of the Mine Health and Safety act.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
• Subject to financial disclosure requirements.
• Requires medical exam and must maintain physical requirements.
• Requires a valid driver's license.
• Appointment to this position may require a background investigation.

Qualifications

You must meet both the Basic Education Requirements and the Specialized Experience to qualify for General Engineer/Geologist, as described below. All applicable transcripts must be submitted. Basic Education Requirement 0801 Series Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum 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 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 professional 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 -- Current registration as a professional engineer 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 succesfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college of university that included 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-5. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements in paragraph A. Because of the diversity in kind and quality of BET programs, graduates of other BET programs are required to complete at least 1 year of additional education or highly technical work experience of such nature as to provide reasonable assurance of the possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for professional engineering competence. The adequacy of this background must be demonstrated by passing the EIT examination. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described for a degree. 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 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) Basic Education Requirement 1350 Series Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in: geology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological science, structural, chemical, civil, mining or petroleum engineering, computer science, planetary geology, comparative planetology, geophysics, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, physical geography, marine geology, and cartography. OR Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Note: Acceptable experience for combining education and experience for the 1350 series is defined in the Education section below. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-012, in the Federal Service that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, experience and skills to successfully perform the duties of the position. Qualifying specialized experience for this position is performing professional work that demonstrates expert knowledge of the underground mining industry, systems, equipment, technology, developing solutions to difficult engineering and technological problems facing the industry. Specialized experience must include three of the following: (Be sure these types of examples are evident in your resume.) Evaluates the effectiveness of mine roof supports, establish criteria and/or specifications, and develops safe installation practices and procedures; Tests and evaluates roof/ground support products, and applies engineering or scientific principles and practices to make technical determinations to develop criteria for complex ground support systems; Conducts evaluations related to fatal accidents, accident investigations, and field investigations where roof control is a factor; and/or Conceive, plan and initiate new or known solutions in order to prevent serious safety hazards to miners and reduce the possibility of coal bumps, rock bursts, massive pillar collapses, or major roof failures.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.


Basic Education Requirement 1350 Series Continued

Acceptable experience may have been gained through geological field or laboratory work that provided a means of obtaining professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of geology and closely related sciences, e.g., geophysics, geochemistry, or hydrology. Such work generally must have involved making close observations, taking samples, handling various types of instruments and equipment, assembling geologic data from source materials, and analyzing and reporting findings orally and in writing. Experience that involved only one phase of geology work, e.g., collecting samples, would not be acceptable as providing the required professional knowledge of the theory and principles of geology. In some situations, professional scientific experience in other fields may be accepted in part as professional geological experience. Such experience must have been preceded by appropriate education in geology or by professional geological experience, and must have contributed directly and significantly to the applicant's professional geological competence. Examples include some positions in geophysics, mining engineering, soils science, physical oceanography, hydrology, climatology, biology, analytic or experimental chemistry, metallurgy, and comparable fields where the normal duties or results of investigations have been extended to the solution of geologic problems by the applicant. Ordinary functions of positions such as seismic, computer, petroleum or mining engineer, mine superintendent, or metallurgist generally are not considered professional geological experience. To receive credit for geological experience obtained in positions that are not full-time professional geological positions, the applicant is responsible for indicating clearly the actual time or percentage of time devoted to geologic duties within such positions, and for giving adequate descriptions of the geologic functions.

Contacts

• Address Mine Safety and Health Administration 200 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20210 US
• Name: Rhonda Dory
• Phone: 972-850-4427
• Email: [email protected]