This position is located at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), State Office Engineering Office, and serves the geographical area. The Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Mission Area is USDA's focal point for the nation's farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for crop insurance, conservation programs and technical assistance and credit and commodity programs, and disaster programs.

Duties

Develops or directs detailed structural analysis, designs and reports of complex engineering practices involving state sized dams, concrete structures, stream restoration projects, animal waste facilities, and other conservation practices. Develops or directs construction plans and specifications, cost estimates and other items necessary for preparation of construction contracts. Serves as or directs the contracting officer's representative for the administration of construction contracts. Plans and conducts pre-bid site showings, approves construction schedules, monitors work for compliance with contract requirements, verifies the accuracy of invoices, directs the quality assurance, recommends contract modifications. Reviews engineering projects and structural aspects of complex engineering systems developed by others for specific sites.

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.
• 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: Requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, traversing steep slopes and rough construction sites, recurring bending and stooping, jumping across shallow ditches, walking in soft, muddy and slippery conditions.
• Lifting and carrying equipment and samples that weigh up to 50 pounds.
• Work Environment: Frequent trips to field sites that involve exposure to construction equipment and the environment, and extreme temperatures of hot and cold.
• Exposure to noise levels common to construction sites with large earthmoving equipment can be expected. There is exposure to disease carrying insects and irritating plants.
• When in the field incumbent is required to wear hard hats and observe necessary precautions on scaffolding, in trenches, and in the area of moving machinery.

Qualifications

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-9 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No Award or General Adjustment SF-50's will be accepted). Time-in-grade requirements also apply to VEOA applicants having held a GS position in the past year. See additional information. Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Degree: Must have 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. OR Combination of Education and Experience: Must have a 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)1, 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 (Must submit proof of registration or licensure with you application); 2) Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 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 (Must submit proof of passing written test with you application); 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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in A above (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.) (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: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying: GS-11 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Providing technical engineering guidance on soil and water conservation issues or other related civil engineering storm water management, water quality, water quantity, or structural issues affecting farmers, landowners, municipalities, rural communities, private businesses or other parties; and Planning, designing, and/or coordinating the structural or civil engineering phases of vegetative or structural engineering practices, soil conservation practices, watershed flood protection practices, or localized storm water management practices. OR Education: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in civil or agricultural engineering or other engineering field which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Combination: Combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above that totals 100 percent when combined. Only graduate education in excess of two years (i.e., 36 semester hours) may be combined with experience under this standard. When combining education with experience, first determine the qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for this grade level; then determine the experience as a percentage of the experience required for this grade level; finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent. GS-12 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Planning, designing and/or construction of agricultural engineering conservation practices, civil engineering vegetative practices, or civil engineering structural practices that address: natural resource protection, storm water management, waste management systems, irrigation efficiencies and/or water quality protection; Coordinating and conducting agricultural or civil engineering quality control and/or quality assurance procedures through site investigations, site inspections, and feasibility studies and recommending changes when necessary; and Assisting with or providing training to conservation contractors and others assisting with the planning and application of conservation practices. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) 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).

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
• Email: [email protected]