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Survey Technician

Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The position is located within the Project Support Section in the Technical Services Branch of the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in Sevierville, Tennessee. The incumbent serves as an instrument operator on a survey crew.

 

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
06/01/2022 to 06/28/2022
Salary
$44,740 to - $71,146 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 07 - 09
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Sevierville, TN
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
76% or greater - Frequent travel to work sites is required. The majority of the work is performed conducting field surveys outside and in diverse locations.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
09
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
FHWA.EFL-2022-0035
Control number
657274000

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Duties

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As a Survey Technician, you will:

  • Participate in conducting the activities of a survey party engaged in topographic surveys, bridge site surveys, aerial control surveys, centerline staking, right-of-way (ROW) surveys, and establishing references for highway construction.
  • Serve as a rod and instrument operator on a survey crew. Assist the Party Chief in the planning, coordinating and conducting a variety of surveying tasks.
  • Serve as a Party Chief in the absence of the Survey Crew Chief. Perform surveys using electronic distance measuring devices. Operate state-of-the-art survey instruments to conduct topographic, bridge site, aerial control, cadastral and right-of-way surveys.
  • Assist the Party Chief in downloading/uploading and processing of survey data between the electronic data collector and laptop/desktop computers for all types of surveys. Assist in processing raw data to a finished drawing (preliminary) through the survey and mapping software programs.
  • Report to Party Chief any measurement errors discovered during the survey work and recommends feasible solutions.

The ideal candidate for this position is an instrument person and a surveyor-in-training with experience in assisting a crew chief in directing and planning field survey crew for data acquisition, including some experience in conducting preliminary, location, bathymetric and boundary surveys. The individual should have experience in using some of the complex surveying equipment (Level, Total Station, Lidar, Hydro Sonar and GPS), the operation of laptop computers, survey and mapping software (TBC, TRW, Bentley Geopak/Microstation) and exposures in developing plat maps, boundary descriptions and deeds for real property. The candidate also possesses good communication skills to work with internal and external customers in order to collect land record data, obtain right of entry permission and provide valuable field information.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
  • You must meet specialized experience and/or education to qualify.
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
  • BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
  • DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • TELEWORK: Position may be eligible for telework in emergency situations.

Qualifications

Individual Occupational Requirements for series 0817 (for positions at GS-4 or equivalent and above): Specialized experience is technical work which provided the knowledge and skills needed for work in the type of surveying involved. It must have required the use of the pertinent instruments and techniques of surveying. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, work as an engineering technician, soil conservation technician, or construction inspector.

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration. If applying based on education, transcripts are required. 

For the GS-07:

To qualify on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-06 grade level, which included:

  • Experience assisting others in performing land surveys.

Or on Education, at least one (1) year of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent with the major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology.

You can also have a combination of some graduate level classes leading to a master's degree or equivalent with major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology and have some specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement that combined qualify you for this position. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

For the GS-08:

To qualify on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-07 grade level, which included:

  • Experience assisting others in applying standardized rules and operations, methods, and practices to perform surveys, collect data, and develop maps.

Or on Education, at least one and a half (1.5) years of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent with the major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology.

You can also have a combination of some graduate level classes leading to a master's degree or equivalent with major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology and have some specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement that combined qualify you for this position. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

For the GS-09:

To qualify on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-08 grade level, which included:

  • Experience creating mapping from field survey data; AND;
  • Experience in assisting in the creation of survey data from Plans and Specifications.

Or on Education, at least two (2) full years of graduate level education or a master's degree with the major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology.

You can also have a combination of some graduate level classes leading to a master's degree or equivalent with major study in an appropriate field of surveying, engineering, construction, or industrial technology and have some specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement that combined qualify you for this position. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

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

  1. Surveying - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods used in the measurement or determination of land boundaries, distances, elevations, areas, angles, and other features of the earth’s surface.
  2. Technology Application - Uses machines, tools, instruments, or equipment effectively; uses computers and computer applications to analyze and communicate information in the appropriate format.
  3. Oral Communication - Makes clear and convincing oral presentations. Listens effectively; clarifies information as needed.

For all types of consideration, 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

NOTE: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-TECH

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.

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

How you will be evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level. 

To compete with U.S. Citizens:  If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of two categories: Qualified and Well Qualified which is based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference that have provided supporting documents will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

To compete with other competitive status government employees: If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.

Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position, must indicate interest in the assessment. In eligibility question 14: select Yes/Other/Former Incumbency of a Position brought into the Competitive Service. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position.

All applicants:  Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package.  If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated on your behalf or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.


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