CIVIL ENGINEER / AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Basic Education Requirement:
A. 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. (Must submit transcripts)
OR
B. 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 (Must submit proof of registration or licensure with you application).
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 transcripts and/or licensure)

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:

Specialized Experience:
To qualify at the GS-11 -At least one full-time year of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties:

• Assisting in reviewing designs and contracts to ensure that quality control is built in to the projects;
• Assisting in the planning or design of construction for conservation practices and water resource structures such as water management, animal waste management, erosion control, flood control, stream restoration, wetland creation or restoration; and
• Performing calculations of earthwork, concrete, steel, conduits, and other materials to prepare construction estimates and bills of material.

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. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. (Must submit transcripts.)
OR
Combination of education and experience: Must have a 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. (Must submit transcripts.)

To qualify at the GS-12 - At least one full-time year of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties:

• Reviewing designs and contracts to ensure that quality control is built in to the projects;
• Assisting in the planning or design of construction for conservation practices and water resource structures such as water management, animal waste management, erosion control, flood control, stream restoration, wetland creation or restoration;
• Performing calculations of earthwork, concrete, steel, conduits, and other materials to prepare construction estimates and bills of material;
• Making field checks to review feasibility of plans or progress on agricultural engineering projects; and
• Providing technical guidance and training to personnel on engineering and conservation practices or use and care of engineering equipment.

Note: There is no education substitution for the GS-12 level. 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