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As an Electronics Engineer, you will:

• Perform atypical or highly difficult professional engineering studies and assignments within the subject-matter or functional area assigned.
• Design or perform the production engineering for state-of-the-art protection, control, data acquisition, and/or telecommunications equipment.
• Design, test, evaluate, and integrate new and/or experimental electronic control and communication equipment and systems.
• Evaluate manufacturers' specifications and drawings for novel and somewhat controversial devices or components proposed for addition to or removal from an acceptable or standard parts list.
• Provide support for mission critical and mission essential transmission grid operations, 24x7, real-time control systems, data acquisition systems and Dispatcher decision-making support systems located at the system control centers.
• Participate in a range of project management and/or project engineering functions.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period.
• This position does not support remote work. You will be required to report physically to the official reporting worksite as specified by the supervisor, but no less than 2 days per pay period
• The salary is based on a Special Rate Table, Number (0754): https://apps.opm.gov/SpecialRates/
• A preliminary background check must be completed before a new employee can begin work. Current Federal employees or other individuals with an existing completed background investigation may not be required to undergo another background check.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT:

You must meet the minimum basic education and/or experience requirements for engineering positions in the Federal government.

1. Have a degree in 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-
2. Have a qualifying combination of education and experience as demonstrated by: 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.
-OR-
3. Have a qualifying combination of education and experience as demonstrated by: 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.
-OR-
4. Have a qualifying combination of education and experience as demonstrated by: 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 under paragraph A in the announcement. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
-OR-
5. Have a qualifying combination of education and experience as demonstrated by: 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).

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

GS-09: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-07) in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing a wide variety of tasks using standard engineering practices and standardized, well-established criteria to 1) conduct special electronic engineering studies; 2) make engineering determinations and apply judgment in the selection, interpretation, and application of relevant rules, standard procedures, or precedents; and 3) analyze and test circuitry or components to determine the appropriate changes in design, overhaul, repair or testing.

You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows:

• Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree, or master's, or equivalent graduate degree; your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. -OR-
• Combination of graduate education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first year of full-time study may be credited).

GS-11: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: experience assisting in applying routine electronic engineering theories, concepts, principles, or practices to plan, design, maintain/repair, or execute routine test procedures and install equipment in at least one of the following equipment types: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), protective relaying with high-speed clearing, special protective systems (Remedial Action Schemes), or utility telecommunications (e.g., SONET, Fiber optics, Analog & Digital Radio (UHF and MW), Telephony, Telemetering, Emergency Power Systems).

You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows:

• Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, or Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree; your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first two years of full-time study may be credited).

GS-12: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: experience independently applying electronic engineering theories, concepts, principles, and practices to 1) plan, design, operate, maintain/repair, or test and install equipment in at least one of the following equipment types: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), protective relaying with high-speed clearing, special protective systems (Remedial Action Schemes), or utility telecommunications (SONET, Fiber optics, Analog & Digital Radio (Both UHF and MW), Telephony, Telemetering, Emergency Power Systems), and 2) plan test procedure modifications to accommodate rapidly changing test requirements.

There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 grade level.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

The Department of Energy uses an application tracking system to evaluate the responses you provide in the applicant assessment questionnaire to place you into an initial quality category via OPM's Category Rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified. Then, the HR Office and/or Subject Matter Expert (SME) will conduct a quality review of your application and supporting documentation to ensure you have been placed into the appropriate quality category.

Your application is rated based on the extent and quality of your experience, education (when applicable), and training as described in your resume and applicant assessment. Your credentials are measured against the established duties of the position at the grade level(s) being advertised.

If you are eligible for career transition assistance plans such as ICTAP or CTAP, you must meet the definition of "well qualified" which is defined as scoring in the Well Qualified category (or higher).

If you are a Veteran Preference eligible candidate, you will be listed at the top of whichever quality category your rating places you in. CP/CPS veterans are placed at the top of the highest category for all positions except professional and scientific positions at GS-9 and higher.

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly

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

Once the application process is complete, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications. If you are minimally qualified for this job, your responses to the self-assessment questions (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) will be evaluated and you will be placed into one of three pre-defined quality categories under Category Rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Oral Communication
• Problem Solving
• Project Management
• Standards
• Teamwork
• Technical Competence
• Telecommunications