CIVIL ENGINEER / AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER

Description:

This position is located in a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office in Cadillac, MI.

The incumbent is responsible for engineering aspects of natural resources conservation practices. A member of an engineering team that supports NRCS mission results and program delivery with technical guidance and training to NRCS staff and others, engineering workload management, and production work across planning, design, and construction phases of a wide range of NRCS projects.

Requirements:

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Basic Education Requirement:
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), 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, and 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 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;

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 copy of transcripts and/or licensure and/or proof of passing written test.)

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 in which you are applying:

GS-09

Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service that included: Assisting with designs, drawings, and specifications on engineering practices with natural resources conservation; Collecting field data to ensure adequacy of the data; and Participating in meetings regarding engineering projects in collaboration with other personnel.
(Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience)

OR

Education: Must have 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Master's degree or Master's or equivalent graduate degree in engineering or other directly related discipline. (Must submit transcripts)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of the above-described education and specialized experience such that they total 100% when combined. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then determine your education as a percentage of the education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent. Note: Only graduate level education beyond 1 year or 18 semester hours may be combined with specialized experience. (Must submit transcripts)

GS-11

Specialized Experience: You must have at least 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: Preparing designs, drawings, and specifications on engineering practices within natural resources conservation; Collecting and processing field data to ensure adequacy of the data; Assisting with on-the-job training to field office staff to improve engineering skillset and performance; Collaborating with team members to develop ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of engineering products and services; and Assisting with the quality review of conservation engineering projects. OR

Education: Must have 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in engineering or other directly related discipline. (Must submit transcripts)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of the above-described education and specialized experience such that they total 100% when combined. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then determine your education as a percentage of the education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent. Note: Only graduate level education beyond 2 years or 36 semester hours may be combined with specialized experience. (Must submit transcripts)

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