Clarification from the agency

Open to current and former Federal employees with competitive status, VEOA Applicants, AND All U.S. Citizens. This is not a Bargaining unit position.

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As an Engineering Technician (Civil) Design, you will:

• Be a part of a cross-functional team that is responsible for the design of highway and bridge projects from the preliminary design stage through completion of the plans, specifications, and estimate package.
• Establish the line and grade for proposed roadway alignments, determine location and size of drainage structures, develop erosion control and traffic control plans, and determine need and location for guardrail and other safety countermeasures.
• Assemble plans package, including information from other technical disciplines, and specifications package, including developing project specific requirements.
• Compute quantities and prepare engineer’s estimates.
• Prepare exhibits, diagrams, and data for permit applications and public meetings.
• Develop construction schedules to determine contract time.
• Prepare a variety of written documents including trip reports, meeting minutes, and responses to project review comments.
• Participate in cost comparison studies such as value engineering and value analysis studies.
• Prepare data and documentation for use by contractors and contract administration personnel.
• Participate in field reviews, partner meetings, and public meetings.

The ideal candidate is a design engineering technician with experience working both independently and with multi-discipline teams in developing, monitoring, and adhering to the design, budget, and schedule for assigned roadway construction projects, providing technical assistance from initial scoping through construction support, and addressing design engineering issues with a wide range of external contacts.

RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE MAY BE OFFERED TO SELECTEE(S) OF THIS POSITION.

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.
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Current Federal employees and non-competitive selectees may need to complete a probationary period (unless already completed).
• 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 ELIGIBILITY: This position is approved for occasional telework. The number of telework days approved is determined by the agency policy, emergency situations, the approval of your immediate supervisor, and if applicable, approval of additional officials. You are required to report to the office on a regular basis since this is not a full-time telework position, or approved as a remote work position.
• PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection.
• RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE: If recruitment incentive is offered, selectee will be required to sign a service agreement.

Qualifications

Individual Occupational Requirements for series 0802 (for positions at GS-4 or equivalent and above): This series covers technical positions supervising, leading, or performing work involving applying a practical knowledge of the methods and techniques of engineering or architecture; and construction, application, properties, operations, and limitations of engineering systems, processes, structures, machinery, devices, and materials.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include technical work in drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems.

Experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work provided intensive knowledge of engineering principles, techniques, methods, and precedents. Examples are trade positions with substantial developmental, test, or design responsibilities such as:

• Planner and estimator who analyzed designs for production purposes.
• Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated.

Certification: Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experience.

For more information refer to: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/engineering-technical-series-0802/

To determine if you are eligible, 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.  

For the GS-07:

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

• Experience using computer aided drafting software (CADD), working with spreadsheets and other computer applications, and preparing technical reports.

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

You can also have a combination of the graduate education* and specialized experience listed above.  This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

Please note that specialized experience requirements for grades 09 and 11 can be met by qualifying experience at the second lower grade level since no one-grade level positions exist in the normal line of progression for this occupation in this organization/location. Also note that Time-In-Grade requirements (for Status applicants) can be met by experience at the second lower grade level for the same reason.

For the GS-09:

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

• Experience performing a variety of highway design technician activities in any area developing portions of Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) packages, identifying appropriate bid items, performing quantity computations, developing summary tables for project plans and price estimates, selecting and assembling special contract requirements (SCRs), or developing critical path diagrams for determination of construction contract time.

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

You can also have a combination of the graduate education and specialized experience listed above.  This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

*Graduate Education - To qualify for GS-0802 positions at grades 07 & 09 based on graduate education (which is education above a Bachelor's degree), the field must be directly related to the position.

For the GS-11:

On Experience, you must have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level, which included:

• Experience providing design services, on a team in the development of highway improvement projects to reconstruct or rehabilitate highways or local roads (e.g., developing Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) packages and layout drawings for highway designs); AND
• Experience using highway-design software programs, including Computer-Aided Design (CADD) software and engineer’s estimating software.

You cannot qualify based on education for this grade level, you must have experience.

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. Civil Engineering Technical Knowledge - Knowledge of the concepts, principles and methods required to provide technical assistance to plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain facilities such as buildings, transportation systems, water and sanitary systems, and other public works systems.
2. Technical Competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.
3. Written Communication - Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
4. 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.

Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply for grades 07 & 09 if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of the closing date of the announcement. Graduation transcript must be received before start date. Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

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. 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.