Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens and Pathways Recent Graduate

This announcement is opened under the Pathways Program - Recent Graduates option. The Pathways Program offers opportunities to grow in your career through formal training and mentorship while earning valuable real-world experience. While the Pathways appointment is one year in length, individuals who successfully complete the program can be converted into either a time-limited or permanent appointment.

This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),Under Secretary for Management (USM), Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) in Washington, District of Columbia. The primary purpose of this position is to carry out developmental assignments in measurement and cost analysis of systems and their associated subsystems. We are seeking intelligent and energetic candidates to participate in the Acquisition Professional Career Program.

Duties performed:

• Assist with performing analysis and evaluation of industrial engineering methods while using DHS cost analysis applications
• Perform straightforward work measurements and cost studies regarding Level 1 systems, and participates in the conduct of special studies of cost related issues (e.g. program, project, appropriation)
• Obtain, clarify, or exchange information or facts needed to complete an assignment
• Utilize engineering methods to establish and maintain effective working relationships

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
• DHS uses e-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States.
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• License required: No
• Pre-employment physical required: No
• Bargaining Unit Position: No
• Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Expenses will not be paid.
• When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.
• Recent Graduate appointments are made in accordance with the Schedule D excepted service appointing authority provided in 5 CFR 213.3402(b).
• If selected, you must sign the Pathways Internship Participant agreement.
• Recent Graduate appointments are intended to last for a 1-year period.
• Recent Graduate appointment may be extended up to an additional 120 days under rare or unusual circumstances to complete the program requirements.
• The duration of the Recent Graduates appointment in the excepted service is a trial period.
• Recent Graduates may be non-competitively converted to a term or permanent position in the competitive service, provided that there is an available position. Recent Graduates converted to term appointments may later be non-competitively converted to a permanent competitive service position. Placement in the program does not guarantee conversion to a permanent appointment, nor is it mandatory.
• If Recent Graduate successfully completes the program requirements and converted to competitive service, time spent in trial period will count towards the required one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must meet following Recent Graduate Eligibility, Engineering Basic Requirement and Minimum Qualifications Requirement.

Pathways Recent Graduate Eligibility:Recent Graduates must have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution.--OR--As a veteran (as defined in 5 USC 2108), who, due to military service obligations, were precluded from applying to the Program during the two-year eligibility period described above. These individuals have a full two-year period of eligibility upon their release or discharge from active duty. In no event, however, may this eligibility period extend beyond six years from the date on which the individual completed their academic requirements.

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic AND Minimum Qualification requirements as noted below.

Basic Requirement: You must meet one of the items listed below (A or B):
A. Possess a 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.
B. 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.)

AND

Minimum Qualifications (must meet one of the following A-G)
A. You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal government, performing the following duties:1) Applying industrial engineering methods, techniques, or concepts to assist in cost estimating and analysis; 2) Identifying appropriate work measurement methods or techniques to complete engineering analyses; and 3) Communicating with technical partners to exchange or clarify engineering information. (NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible.)
B. I have an Engineering Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university AND meet Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) based on ONE of the following: 1. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on completed courses. 2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. (Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9.) 3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies. Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision.
C. I have one full year of graduate level education from an accredited college or university in an engineering field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
D. I have an Engineering Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university plus 1 year of engineering technician experience equivalent to the GS-5 level or higher.
E. I have completed a 5-year program of study of at least 160 semester hours leading to a Bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited college or university.
F. I have an Engineering Master's degree or higher degree from an accredited college or university.
G. I have a combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described in "A" and "C" above, that when combined equals 100% of the qualification requirement.

Unofficial or Official Transcripts MUST be submitted.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

NOTE: 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will use an Assessment Questionnaire to place you in one of three categories based on your experience, education and training. The competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job are:

• Attention to Detail
• Conscientiousness
• General Engineering

If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

1. Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis
3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview.To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10891095

The Category Rating Process does not add veteran's preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Veteran preference eligibles will receive selection consideration before non-preference eligibles within each quality category.