Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens. Subject position(s) will be filled through Direct Hire Authority: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/direct-hire-authority/ All applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for further consideration. The "Rule of Three", Category Rating, Veterans Preference, and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

The Coast Guard Office of Auxiliary & Boating Safety’s Recreational Boating Product Assurance Branch (CG-BSX-23) oversees the implementation of the Recreational Boat Testing and Compliance Program, which is the Coast Guard’s primary means of ensuring recreational boat manufacturer compliance with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements found in 46 USC 43 and 33 CFR Subchapter S. As a General Engineer within CG-BSX-23 the successful candidate(s) will be responsible for developing and utilizing the policies and procedures of the Branch to carry out all aspects of the Recreational Boat Testing and Compliance Program, to include:

• Evaluating recreational boats for compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
• Interpreting Coast Guard regulations for applicability to new and unusual boat designs;
• Managing Defect Notification Campaigns (safety recalls) for boats and associated equipment that do not comply with applicable laws and regulations;
• Assisting recreational boat manufacturers with questions about regulatory compliance;
• Representing the Coast Guard in the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards for the construction of recreational boats.

The work is mainly conducted from Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC, although occasional travel to the Coast Guard’s boat test facility in southern Maryland and various cities across the United States for committee meetings is required. Working remotely from outside the national capital region will be considered.

Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include:

• Evaluating the accuracy, precision, and reliability of manufacturer-provided scientific and technical data;
• Reviewing recreational vessel test and inspection results to determine whether or not they are or are not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Serving as technical engineering specialist in the test, checkout, and readiness of systems or equipment that involve new concepts and new and varied problems to be solved involving recreational vessels.
• Developing contract requirements on recreational boat and associated equipment testing and inspection contracts.
• Reviewing, advising on, and conducting complex analysis and development studies in support of major organization programs, including analysis of novel, unprecedented, or controversial problems.
• Serving as a technical advisor and consulting engineer for the application of marine technologies to recreational vessels.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• This position requires a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI).
• Unofficial transcripts required at time of application.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: 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

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 professional 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)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. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described above.

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

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:  AT THE GS-13 LEVEL: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to a GS-12 in the federal service. Specialized experience includes: Utilizing a variety of engineering disciplines; developing new approaches to guide other engineers who solve a variety of technical problems; performing engineering studies; and evaluating safety, integrity and stability of small boats.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.

The Office of Personnel management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

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 résumé and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be referred for consideration. The following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed to perform this job:

1. Knowledge of the engineering principles and concepts needed to resolve novel or obscure problems; extend and modify techniques; develop new approaches that guide others who solve a variety of technical problems; and/or apply new innovative, or experimental engineering theories, developments, or practices to problems or studies.
2. Knowledge of engineering principles, theories, practices, regulations, and procedures covering a broad range of engineering disciplines.
3. Skill in communicating orally and in writing.