Skip to main content
U.S. flag

Civil Engineer, GS-0810-13 (CL-MPP)

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Civil Engineer. You can make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment! 

Would you enjoy preparing complex construction cost estimates as a recognized Senior Estimating Engineer and team leader?

Here is a great opportunity to join a great organization with excellent growth potential!

Overview

Help
Reviewing applications
Open date: 05/22/2019
Closed date: 06/12/2019
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$112,471 - $135,475 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Promotion potential
13
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-Time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Announcement number
BR-DO-2019-109
Control number
534594300

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

Current Bureau of Reclamation employees serving under a competitive service career or career-conditional appointment in the Denver Locality area.

Duties

Help

-Serves as a senior estimating engineer for preparation of the most complex and difficult cost estimates at any level of cost estimates (i.e., preliminary, appraisal, feasability, percent-design, prevalidation, and Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCE)).
-Serves as a team leader providing technical leadership over broad project assignments to lower-graded engineers.
-Responsible for detailed planning, organizing, coordinating, directing, and controlling the work necessary for accomplishment of the cost estimating technical functions and objectives.
-Peer reviews cost estimates and associated products for all types of water resource facility construction including dams, spillways, outlet works, pumping plants, powerplants, pipelines, canals, fish facilities, buildings, water and wastewater treatment facilities, tunnels, utilities, roads/bridges, and environmental cleanup along with specific discipline work in civil, electrical, mechanical, corrosion, and SCADA.
-Performs review of cost estimates prepared by others outside Reclamation’s Technical Service Center (e.g., Reclamation’s regional or area offices, other federal or state agencies, Architect/Engineer, or Consultant firms, etc).
-Serves as a recognized expert in the preparation of estimates of construction costs. As requested by the regional offices, provides leadership and expert advice by acting as a consulting engineer to regional Contracting Officers, project construction engineers, and regional engineers.
-As a technical expert in construction estimating, acts as a troubleshooter by visiting Reclamation regional and field offices to advise on special problems and devise recommended solutions to construction estimating.
-As assigned, responsible for developing and maintaining the Estimating Database System used by the TSC for preparing parts of or all of: preliminary, appraisal, feasibility, and other level estimates (as applicable).
-Prepares or reviews Construction Cost Estimates (CCE) and Project Cost Estimates (PCE) of projects for budgetary purposes on an as needed basis.
- Trains and provides mentorship and guidance to less experienced lower-graded engineers. Monitors training progress and provides additional mentorship and feedback as needed.
- Develops and reviews reports (ie. plannings studies, special studies, cost price analysis, white papers, etc.) containing and referencing cost estimates, data, references, or requirements.
-Develops and recommends standards, procedures, and/or guides to assure cost estimates are adequate and appropriate for intended use.
- Evaluates bid abstracts, variations in bids, estimates contract modifications, provides cost analysis functions as needed, etc.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship or U.S. National
  • Suitable for Federal Employment, determined by background investigation.
  • You must submit resume and supporting documentation (See How to Apply)
  • You must meet specialized experience requirements; (See Qualifications)
  • For veterans consideration, submit document(s) under Required documents

You must meet all qualification requirements, including time-in-grade restrictions and any selective factors, by the closing date of this announcement. 

TIME-IN-GRADE: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Applications must first meet the Basic Education Qualification Requirements listed below:
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)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.
   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.
   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.)

Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the Basic Education Qualification Requirements, applicants must have additional specialized experience as defined below:

DEFINITION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: To meet specialized experience, your resume must describe experience that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities as follows:  GS-13: All applicants must possess one year of professional engineering experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level with primary responsibility for the preparation of construction Cost Estimates for large water resource projects including civil, environmental, mechanical, and electrical components from planning through final design. Having prepared or approved Engineers Estimates for features greater than $10 Million dollars and planning Cost Estimates for projects greater than $100 Million dollars. Considered a recognized expert on the preparation and handling of construction cost estimates. 

GS-13 SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: This position requires a current valid Professional Engineering (PE) license, or registration as a Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) or registration as a Certified Professional Estimator (CPE).  Failure to provide proof of one of these with your application will make you ineligible.

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.

Education

This position has a mandatory education requirement; you must furnish a copy of your transcript of college work completed (unofficial copy is acceptable). Transcripts must include the name of the college or university and date the degree was conferred. Non-submission will result in you being rated not qualified for the position.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, applicants must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs.

Additional information

LOCATION: Technical Service Center, Engineering and Laboratory Services Division, Estimating Services; Lakewood, CO.

Relocation expenses are not authorized for this position. 

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

The Bureau of Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. For more information visit: http://www.sss.gov.

Equal Employment Opportunity: The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.

This position is designated as a NON-SENSITIVE position.  It requires a fully completed and favorable adjudicated Low Risk Background Investigation (T1 (NACI)) that is current.  This is a condition of employment.

How you will be evaluated

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

Human Resources (HR) will review resumes and transcript(s) if applicable, to ensure applicants meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided in the assessment questionnaire. The assessment questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Applicants determined best qualified will be referred to the selecting official.

Applicants will be further evaluated on the following “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)” through your resume and responses to the online questions. 

   1. Knowledge of construction cost estimating for large water resource projects including civil, environmental, mechanical, and electrical components.
   2. Skill in project management and team leadership.
   3. Ability to effectively collaborate and communicate with persons of varied backgrounds, both verbally and in writing. 

Applicants must make a fair and accurate assessment of their qualifications. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is apparent in your description of experience, competencies, skills, and/or education/training OR that your resume/application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible or your score may be lowered.


To preview questions please click here.

Bureau of Reclamation

Reclamation is a contemporary water management agency. Reclamation is best known for Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River and Folsom Dam on the American River. Today we are the largest wholesaler of water in the country and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States. Visit: http://www.usbr.gov.

View our DVD titled "Traditions, Talent, and Teamwork" at: http://www.usbr.gov/hr/Video/.

Agency contact information

HR Service Center
Phone
303-445-2684
Fax
303-445-6349
Email
codo@usbr.gov
Address
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
P.O. Box 25007
DFC, Bldg. 67
Attn: 84-58200
Denver, Colorado 80225-0007
United States

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.