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Engineering Technician

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is being concurrently announced under Pathways Recent Graduate program as announcement number 23-NPT-ENG-802-5-RG. Current federal employees may apply to both announcements. This position will be filled at the GS-05 grade level with promotion potential to the GS-09.

See Position Information section below for additional details on the positions being filled through this announcement.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
10/04/2022 to 10/17/2022
Salary
$36,118 to - $46,953 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5
Locations
MANY vacancies in the following locations:
Brent, AL
Mountain View, AR
Russellville, AR
Alturas, CA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
23-NPT-ENG-802-5-FS-KG
Control number
681264100

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Duties

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  • Assists in the design of roads and related structures such as culverts and retaining walls.
  • Makes computations from tables to estimate road location. Reviews printouts, cross sections, and profiles; recommends traverses, gradients, culvert locations, and other aspects of the final road design.
  • Compares findings with plans and contract specifications, reporting the results.
  • Uses hand instruments such as hand levels, tape, and compasses to conduct surveys and measure small land areas.
  • Performs a variety of standardized engineering tests using established methods.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/engineering-technical-series-0802/.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT:
Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

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 the GS-05 level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-04 grade level;

OR a bachelor's degree or 4 years of successfully completed education above high school (120 semester/180 quarter hours) with major study in an appropriate field of engineering, construction, or industrial technology or that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as engineering, engineering or industrial technology, construction, physics, drafting, surveying, physical science, or mathematics (at least 6 of the 24 semester hours must have been in drafting if the position has been designated by a drafting area of specialization);

OR combinations of successfully completed post-high school education (in excess of the first 60 semester/90 quarter hours) and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university with courses related to the occupation of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience includes meeting two or more of the following: Conducting simple traverse surveys; drawing simple curves; operating test instruments and controls during tests, performing specified arithmetic computations, using standard tables and substituting in formulas; and/or inspecting small construction sites with a variety of construction processes of limited complexity, such as the installation of standard electrical wiring.

Education

POSITION INFORMATION:
This announcement is associated with the 2023 Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) hiring event. The targeted start date for these positions is Winter 2022/Spring 2023.

If you have questions regarding duty locations in this announcement please email sm.fs.pathways@usda.gov. Please include the announcement number and the exact location(s) for which you have questions in your email.

This position is being concurrently announced under Merit Promotion procedures as announcement number 23-NPT-ENG-802-5-RG. Current federal employees may apply to both announcements. This position may be filled at the GS-05 grade level with promotion potential to the GS-09.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE depending upon duty location.

The duty locations listed in this announcement include primary and alternate locations for available positions. You must select all duty locations for which you wish to be considered; final duty location for each position will be determined at the time of selection.

FIELD GOING: The applicant should expect that these are all primarily field going positions, with a significant amount of physically challenging field work in natural resource settings. This could involve use of Forest Service vehicles, tools, and Personal Protective Equipment; hiking, exposure to weather extremes and wildlife, and in some cases, working extended hours or shifts, evening work and/or spending some nights at remote locations.

Additional information

The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Salary range as shown is the locality pay Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary by location. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management's website for additional information on pay rates.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Military Spouses, Resource Assistants Program (RAP), Public Lands Corps (PLC), etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

PROMOTION POTENTIAL: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

TELEWORK: This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing may be available


RECRUITMENT/RELOCATION INCENTIVES: The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Ability to apply mathematical skills
  • Ability to communicate
  • Knowledge of methods and practices used to support civil engineering projects and operations


Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11667882

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