Electrical Engineer, GS-0850-5 (18151)

Announcement Type

TARP - Direct-Hire Authority (DHA)

Position Type

Permanent

USACE Organization

Northwestern Division (NWD) - Omaha District

Locations (City, State)

Omaha, NE

Position Overview/Duties

This engineering position is an entry level electrical engineering position in the Electrical Engineering Section, which is located in the Design Branch, Engineering Division, Omaha District (NWO), which performs electrical engineering design and review work for Military, Civil Works, and IIS customers.

Specific Duties:
1. Assist in the development of preliminary and final designs, analyses, and contract plans for the electrical engineering features of projects typified above, and for the extension, modification and rehabilitation of such projects, and reviews such design analyses, plans and specifications when developed by contract A/Es.
2. Design and/or review design for a wide variety of electrical features embracing such items as transformer banks, switchboard controls, instrument circuits, motors, small generating plants, overhead and underground distribution lines, substations, starters, and associated protective equipment, communication and signal systems, high and low voltage distribution in buildings, street lighting, and special services.
3. Study problems of power and distribution requirements and assist in making recommendations as to solution of such problems.
4. Assist in making computations of power requirements, voltage drop, permissible line losses, determines size of conductors, type and quantity of equipment and materials suitable to requirements.
5. Assist in coordinating electrical engineering design with related design features (e.g., civil, structural, mechanical and architectural).
6. Assist in drafting contract specifications for contracts listed above.
7. Participate in field investigations of existing facilities prior to preparation of preliminary plans for redesign or modification where necessary.
8. Make field trips to study deficiencies in the operation of electrical equipment at construction projects; study and analyze all phases of problems.
9. Participate in pre-design conferences with representatives of the using service and higher authority for the purpose of determining applicable design criteria for proposed construction.
10. Confer with A/Es in cooperation with personnel in the Military Branch for the purpose of outlining applicable design criteria and engineering instructions.
11. Assist in reviews of shop drawings, descriptive material, and catalog cuts which are submitted by construction contractors in accordance with the terms of their contracts.

Other Conditions and Requirements

This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD, Section 9905 to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service. Position covered by PWR SSR (Special Salary Rate).

Minimum Education Requirement:

A. Degree: 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
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, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieve 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 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 position. The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

Additional information can be found here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf

Other Requirements:
• Applications must be submitted after 12:01 AM (EST) of the posted Job Posting Open Date and before 11:59 PM (EST) of the posted Job Posting Close Date to receive consideration.
• All positions require the applicant to be a citizen of the United States.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, are required to register for Selective Service prior to appointment.
• A trial or probationary period may be required.
• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Direct deposit of pay is required.
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 5% of the time.
• This position requires that the incumbent possess or obtain and maintain a valid state Driver's License in one of the 50 U.S. states or possessions to operate vehicles.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor

To learn more, please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity (https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector/federal-employees-job-applicants).

Qualifications

Candidates will be evaluated IAW OPM Requirements: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Reasonable Accommodation

Reasonable accommodation is available to qualified employees with disabilities. You can request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the application process, hiring process or while on the job. Requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.