This position is located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Design, Construction, & Soil Mechanics Center (NDCSMC). The incumbent serves as a Hydraulics/Hydrologic Engineer & provides technical review, design support, & expert consultation on civil engineering projects. Assist states with stream & wetland restoration, irrigation, debris basins, flood control, & dam rehabilitation.

Duties

Provide technical support and assistance to State Conservationists and their staffs in analyzing hydrology, hydraulics, river engineering, geomorphic, and bioengineering and stream mechanics associated with complex structures. Work with staff hydraulic engineers on the assessment, design, and review of a variety of complex engineering civil works projects including dams, levees, and flood control measures. Serve as the NRCS specialist both in support of and for transfer and training of new and existing hydraulic, stream mechanics, river engineering, and bioengineering technologies. Work with NRCS leaders in dam analysis, dam design, stream mechanics, river engineering, river structures, bioengineering and hydraulics to obtain and/or develop appropriate methods of analysis and evaluation for use in design of complex structures. Coordinate training on the use of hydrologic and hydraulic theory as well as stream mechanics guides, methods, new techniques and procedures with state, regional, and national specialists.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Subject to one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.
• Physical Demands: Field work involving physical exertion such as standing, traversing steep slopes and rough construction sites, bending, jumping across shallow ditches, walking in soft, muddy, and slippery conditions.
• Physical Demands: Lifting and carrying equipment and samples that weigh up to 50 pounds.
• Physical Demands: Exposure to field conditions including agricultural and construction equipment, adverse weather conditions, and hazardous animals, noxious plants as well as hazardous environments such as abandoned mine sites and disaster sites.
• Work Environment: Required to wear hard hat/protective clothing; Use caution on scaffolding, in trenches, and near machinery. Exposure to noise levels common to construction sites. Exposure to disease carrying animals, insects and irritating plants.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement. Basic Requirement: A. Degree: A bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by 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. (You must submit transcripts.) 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. (You must submit supporting documentation.) 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, and Puerto Rico. (You must submit supporting documentation. 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 the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. (You must submit transcripts.) 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 bachelor's 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.) (You must submit transcripts.) In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered: GS-12 Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service that included: Assisting with engineering projects such as dams, streambank stabilization, irrigation, and flood control; Utilizing computer applications related to stream mechanics and hydraulics; Evaluating soil, water, and plant relationships within river systems, stream corridors, and flood plains in order to understand how they function together; and Identifying solutions for hydraulic and hydrologic engineering projects such as stream stabilization, wetland restoration, flood control dams, or spillway hydraulics. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service that included: Providing guidance on complex engineering projects such as dams, streambanks stabilization, irrigation, and flood control; Identifying and developing new computer applications related to stream mechanics and hydraulics; Analyzing soil, water, and plant relationships within river systems, stream corridors, and flood plains in order to understand how they function together; and Recommending new approaches to stream mechanics such as erosion processes, sediment transport, river engineering, or fluvial systems. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) Note: There is no education substitution for specialized experience at the GS-12 and GS-13 grade levels. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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 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 OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series

Education

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov)

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Midwest Services Branch
• Phone: 8164265706
• Email: [email protected]