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: Serve as a senior mechanical engineering specialist in design and construction in the mechanical field for civil works, federal facilities, and military facilities.

Duties

Accomplish studies and design for mechanical equipment and systems for new projects and major alterations for civil works, federal and military facilities. Evaluate design objectives, performs complex technical calculations, identifies economical and efficient procedures for design and resolves applicability of criteria. Provide guidance for solutions to mechanical construction issues to construction field personnel in a timely and independent method to preclude contract delays. Monitor ongoing construction projects to ensure contract compliance with design intent as well as resolution of design or construction deficiencies. Maintain a liaison within the District, Area Offices, Resident Offices, and Customer elements as required to coordinate any work being performed to provide a quality product.

Requirements

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• NATIONAL AGENCY CHECK WITH WRITTEN INQUIRIES (NACI) - Appointment to this position is subject to a background investigation to determine your suitability for Federal employment.
• DRIVER'S LICENSE - The duties of this position require the incumbent to possess or obtain and maintain a valid state Driver's License in one of the 50 U.S. states or possessions to operate vehicles.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD - 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 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 Mechanical Engineer: 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. In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: For GS-7: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: Applying mechanical engineering knowledge to assist in design for mechanical equipment and systems for new projects and major alterations, rehabilitation, and additions to existing systems during design and construction phases; Performing site investigations to secure necessary data for studies and designs. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05). OR Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your 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 (b) 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.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/). 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) by 18. Add the two percentages. For GS-9: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: Assisting in planning and/or installation of mechanical systems such as gates, pumps, conveying, seismic, water supply, sewerage, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, and fire protection systems; Preparing technical specifications, material estimates, technical reports, energy efficiency design and checklists. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07). OR Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 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. 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 first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages. See "Education" section for Qualification for GS-11 and GS-12.

Education

For GS-11:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: Providing estimations for costs, materials, and scheduling of mechanical projects; Reviewing completed work for technical adequacy and completeness; Recommending changes to construction field personnel regarding contracts in areas of materials, equipment, and testing/commissioning.
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.

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.


For GS-12:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: Handling several mechanical engineering projects involving studies and design for mechanical equipment and systems; Evaluating design objectives, identifying economical and efficient procedures for design, and resolving applicability of criteria; Serving as a technical advisor on mechanical issues relating to design, review, and construction processes.
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 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 RD-W2SD03 US ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT-NORFOLK DO NOT MAIL Norfolk, VA 23510 US
• Name: Army Applicant Help Desk