Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results

Supervisory General Engineer - DIRECT HIRE

Department of Transportation
Office of the Secretary of Transportation
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Volpe Center seeks a Chief of the Infrastructure Engineering and Deployment Systems Division. The Division Chief manages the Division’s technical work portfolio, supervises approximately 15-20 technical and administrative staff, provides administrative oversight of the division, and works collaboratively as a member of the Volpe Center management team.

Overview

Help
Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
05/12/2022 to 05/31/2022
Salary
$146,859 to - $176,300 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Cambridge, MA
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Some travel is required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
15
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
OST.RVOLPE-2022-0036
Control number
653770600

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. The 'Rule of Three', Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

Duties

Help

 As a Supervisory General Engineer, you will:

  • Develop, maintain, and grow the Division's portfolio of work consistent with the strategic goals of the US DOT and Volpe Center. Develop staff through professional development, mentoring and challenging work assignments.
  • Support full utilization of technical staff while ensuring that they have opportunities for professional advancement while maintaining high standards of public service and support to their customers.
  • Implementation and growing an infrastructure sustainment and modernization for military and civilian sponsors.
  • Sustain and build relationships with sponsors, colleagues, and industry professionals.
  • Establish and execute vision for strategic growth of the division portfolio, building on existing strengths and identifying opportunities for collaboration with other Volpe Center divisions.
  • Ensure that project and programs are managed in accordance with the Volpe Center project management standards and best industry practices. This includes developing and managing reimbursable and Interagency Agreements, monitoring project funding levels, establishing, and maintaining good working relationships with current and future clients, ensuring the quality of deliverable and providing quick reaction responses as required.
  • Monitor and manage direct and indirect budgets to ensure compliance with requirements and limitations. Development and oversight of the Division's portfolio of projects for ensuring technical excellence and leadership and for ensuring that high quality products and services are delivered to clients on time and within budget.

The ideal candidate for this assignment should have experience in providing leadership in projects that provide engineering, analytical, and research support to surface, maritime, and aviation transportation decision-making at all levels of government and industry and experience leading high-performing, multi-disciplinary technical teams. This position requires experience in an entrepreneurial, fee-for-service environment, superb communication skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with staff, colleagues, supervisors and sponsors. The candidate should have strong leadership, management, engineering, written and oral communication, consulting, interpersonal and problem-solving skills. Significant experience in direct management of staff and programs is required. The candidate should have the ability to lead, direct, develop and mentor staff, to work with high-level agency officials and sponsors, and to effectively and collaboratively within a management team. Experience with US Department of Defense transportation infrastructure programs is desirable. Candidate must have or be able to obtain at least a secret security clearance to participate in national security programs and classified information sharing opportunities.

PLEASE NOTE: Current Volpe employees with duty stations other than Cambridge, MA may apply for this position and may remain in their current duty station, if selected. Salary will be adjusted in accordance with the locality pay of the specific area.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
  • Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Applicants may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • SUPERVISORY PROBATIONARY PERIOD: New supervisors must complete a 1-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • DRUG TEST: This position has been determined to be a critical safety/security position as defined in the Department of Transportation (DOT) Order, DOT 3910.1D entitled "Drug and Alcohol-Free Departmental Workplace." Therefore, if selected for the position you will be required to submit to a pre employment/pre-appointment drug test, you will also be subject to Random Drug Testing.
  • SECRET CLEARANCE:  If you are selected for this position, you will be required to successfully complete an extensive background investigation to attain a Secret Clearance.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the Education Requirement for the series, (2) provide a copy of transcripts for verification, AND (3) meet the experience qualifications.

To qualify for the GS-15, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-14, it must include:

  • Experience overseeing and/or deploying comprehensive engineering projects and the development of new processes and/or procedures related to improving the safety or effectiveness of transportation systems.
  • Experience managing resources, budgets and personnel, and leading multi-disciplinary technical team(s) in development, analysis, and execution of technology and engineering solutions to transportation challenges.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  1. Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of engineering and their practical applications.
  2. Knowledge of the principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing projects and resources, including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, and contractor performance.
  3. Ability to understand and interpret written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.
  4. Skilled in making clear and convincing oral presentations. Listens effectively; clarifies information as needed.
  5. Ability to use imagination to develop new insights into situations and applies new solutions to problems; designs new methods where established methods and procedures are not suitable or are unavailable.

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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link:  https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

(1) All applicants must meet the education requirements under A or B to qualify for applying to an engineering position.

A. Successful completion of a degree in engineering that: (1) has at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); or (2) that included 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; (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials; 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 or training: college level education, training and/or technical experience that has 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).
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 which included the courses as specified in Paragraph A 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 had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. There should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering type experience. This must be clearly described in your resume.

For more specifics, please see the OPM qualifications standard for GS-800: All Professional Engineering Positions qualifications at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf



(2) Upload the appropriate document(s) to your application for verification purposes.

Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of the closing date of this announcement. If selected, the final transcript must be received before your start date.  Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

(3) Qualifications:

To determine which grade(s) you are eligible for, review the following grade specific details.  You will be asked questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet this experience in your resume or you may be deemed ineligible.

Additional information

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a Bargaining unit position.

COVID VACCINATION: If selected, you will be required to provide information regarding your COVID-19 vaccination status for the purposes of implementing workplace safety protocols, such as protocols related to masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

Moderate Risk Background Investigation
Relocation expenses are NOT authorized.
Telework is available.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Qualified CTAP/ICTAP candidates receive priority and will referred to the hiring manager.

How you will be evaluated

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

For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the educational requirements.  Applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

Applicants will not be rated or ranked.  Veteran’s Preference does NOT apply.

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.  WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.  All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated by a resume.  If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration.

Ultimately, the Automated Staffing Office is response provides enough detail to support the qualifications of the vacancy. 


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

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.