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: Winchester, a city of 30,000, is located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley 70 miles northwest of Washington, DC. Visit the US Army Corps of Engineers, Middle East District website at the link here. Management may select from any grade advertised.

Duties

Deliver Cost/Schedule Risk Analysis reports, Life-Cycle Cost Analysis reports, economic studies, and participate in Value Engineering studies and other work products supporting projects. Extend consideration to items not included in the estimate that are shown on the plans and/or in the specifications, impacting cost, schedule, funding, or other economic elements of the project. Coordinate with the Project Manager and/or Design Manager to ensure they understand the effect that the project’s cost has on the projects design and scope. Participate in negotiations and meetings contractors on, task orders and change orders/modifications as a support to negotiations. Deliver work products contributing to construction contracting documents including proposal/bid schedules, and Cost or Price Evaluation reports comparing proposals/bids against the IGE. Coordinate flow of work, checking data, solving problems concerning costs, meeting deadlines, and work schedules. Deliver work products and other outputs associated with the full range of estimating duties delineated in regulations and the Tri-Services Cost Engineering System (TRACES).

Requirements

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain a SECRET Security Clearance.
• Incumbent is required to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter.
• Position requires travel (TDY) up to 25% of the duty time.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the Basic 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. This position has a positive education requirement. You MUST submit transcripts with course descriptions to qualify for this position. To view the educational requirements, go to the links listed below for each series you are interested in applying for on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website: Cost Engineer (series 0801) - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/. In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: GS-07 - Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes possessing knowledge of cost estimating concepts and principles that can be acquired through practical experience and supplemented through education, training, and on-going experience; monitoring and reporting variations between Current Working Estimate (CWE) and Baseline Cost Estimate (BCE) for the agency; and communicating sufficiently and effectively exchanging thoughts and ideas with personnel associated with the work assignments. 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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) 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.achshonor.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. GS-09 - Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes studying and interpreting basic design data and reviews completed plans and specifications to identify discrepancies or detect omissions; contacting suppliers and outside contractors to obtain cost, capability, and other data; validating the cost engineering work products on format, completeness, and pricing; and possess knowledge of cost-estimating methods and practices to independently perform a wide range of duties concerned with the development of cost-estimating products. 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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) 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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) GS-11 - Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes establishing and interpreting pricing/cost data and other economic facts, or when available, uses already established information provided by recognized sources; delivering complete construction and services project cost estimates for construction of a wide variety of permanent types of structures; coordinating with the Project Manager and/or Design Manager to ensure they understand the effect that the project's cost has on the projects design and scope; and noting discrepancies in the reviewed work product and using the mandatory comment management system to provide comments. 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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) 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. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) GS-12 experience continued under Education tab.

Education

GS-12 - Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes delivering ROM/Programming estimates using the latest cost engineering methodologies and using appropriate estimating software; reviewing cost engineering work products prepared by A-E firms, cost engineering firms, and others under contract or other agreement to the district; assuring adequate means of review for pricing, contracting, and all decisions involving the cost of the project; delivering work products contributing to construction contracting documents including proposal/bid schedules, and Cost or Price Evaluation reports; and visiting field sites to observe project site conditions which may impact on project cost. 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, 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 RB-W31R30 US ARMY ENG DIV TAD MID EAST DIST DO NOT MAIL Winchester, VA 22604 US
• Name: Army Applicant Help Desk