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INTERDISCIPLINARY General Engineer/Physical Scientist

Department of Energy
Department of Energy - Agency Wide
Office of Nuclear Energy - Idaho Operations Office
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is part of the Idaho Operations Office, Department of Energy. As a INTERDISCIPLINARY General Engineer/Physical Scientist, you will be assisting with technically complex DOE scientific and engineering projects or initiatives, which may include but not limited to scientific and engineering design, development, implementation and evaluation of these programs/projects.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/01/2023 to 03/14/2023
This job will close when we have received 100 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$46,696 to - $78,440 per year

Salary will be determined by Occupational Series, Salary/Special Rate Tables, and grade levels.

Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
few vacancies in the following location:
Idaho Falls, ID
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
Excepted
Promotion potential
13
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-NE-ID-00406-11863063-RG
Control number
709528100

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens, Nationals, and Foreign Nationals who meet both Immigration and Annual Appropriations Laws who also meet the requirements of the Pathways Recent Graduate Program. See the Requirements, Qualifications, and Education sections of this announcement for more information.

Duties

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As a GS-07 General Engineer/Physical Scientist, you will:

  • Serve as a professional engineer or scientist and perform general engineering or scientific work of limited scope and complexity in support of DOE projects assigned to higher grade engineers.
  • Plan work procedures and selects standard practices and data to be applied to engineering or scientific assignment and identified problem.
  • Conduct a variety of routine, limited analyses requiring professional knowledge of two or more engineering and/or scientific disciplines (i.e., civil, mechanical, petroleum, chemical, nuclear, environmental, industrial or electrical engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Geophysics, Geology, Hydrology, etc.)
  • Research and/or evaluate basic engineering and/or scientific designs, specifications and related documentation to perform and interpret calculations and computations and determines if factual information is relevant, accurate and useful.
  • Prepare routine, recurring engineering and/or scientific reports for use by higher graded engineers or to convey factual engineering and/or scientific data and information.
  • Assist in coordinating and carrying out limited, well-defined engineering and/or scientific projects.
As a GS-09 General Engineer/Physical Scientist, you will:
  • Serve as a professional engineer or scientist and perform a variety of general scientific and/or engineering tasks in support of larger projects.
  • Carry out difficult but conventional scientific and/or engineering assignments in support of organizational programs/projects.
  • Conduct preliminary scientific and/or engineering analyses to assist higher graded Federal scientists and engineers in accomplishing work on large and complicated projects.
  • Review reports, plans, specifications, change orders, modifications, and other documents prepared by others and applies knowledge of technological advances in the appropriate scientific and/or engineering discipline (e.g., Chemistry, Physics, Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geophysics, Geology, Hydrology, etc.) to identify discrepancies or potential issues.
  • Prepare recurring technical reports to inform stakeholders of status of projects issues that may impact program/project objectives and goals.
  • Work with other scientists and/or engineers to identify and interpret a variety of factors, situations, and conditions to discern interrelationships among different scientific and/or engineering methods, processes and activities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen, National, or Foreign National who meets both Immigration and Annual Appropriations Laws.
  • 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.
  • The duration of a Recent Graduate appointment is a trial period.
  • A Pathways Recent Graduate Participant Agreement is required.
  • This position is part of a bargaining unit.
  • Applicants must meet the requirements of the Recent Graduates Program requirements.
  • Recent Graduates may be converted to a permanent position, a career or career conditional appointment. Conversion to a position is not guaranteed. Please see the Additional Information section for more information.
  • You must submit transcripts with your application for proof of education with degree conferred or expected date.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement for General Engineer, 801 series: Individual Occupational Requirements can be found at OPM 801 IOR.

A. Degree: 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

B.
Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that 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:

  • Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1 , or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
  • Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 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.
  • 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. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
  • 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.)
Basic Requirement for Physical Scientist, 1301 series: Individual Occupational Requirements can be found at OPM 1301 IOR.
A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

OR
B. Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience, or additional education.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

GS-07 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: 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-05) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as:

1) Assisting in carrying out limited, well-defined engineering and/or scientific projects,
2) Researching basic engineering and/or scientific designs and/or drawings, or
3) Participating on teams and/or working groups to gain general knowledge of standardized engineering and scientific practices and processes.

OR
Education: Completed 1 year of graduate level education or Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) at the baccalaureate must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. S.A.A. is based on (1) Class standing-applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class, based on completed courses; or (2) Grade-Point Average-applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (3) Election to membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society - membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: a combination of education and experience that together meets the requirements for this position.

GS-09 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: 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 for this position is defined as:

1) Determining work procedures and standard practices to be applied to engineering or scientific program assignments, Identifying potential issues and problems,
2) Reviewing reports, plans, specifications and/or modification to apply technical advances appropriate to scientific and/or engineering disciplines such as civil, mechanical, petroleum, chemical, nuclear, environmental, industrial or electrical engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Geophysics, Geology, Hydrology, etc., OR
3) Presenting information through various venues such as discussions, meetings, fact sheets, reports, design documentation, briefings, and/or presentations to advise on scientific and/or engineering work efforts.

OR
Education: Successfully completed 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

You must meet ALL qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (03/14/2023) of this announcement.

Education

To be eligible for the Pathways Recent Graduate program you must be a:

  • Recent graduate who has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution.
-OR-
  • Student who within 6 months of the closing date of this announcement will meet the education requirements and will graduate with a qualifying associate, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. A student may not be appointed to a position until they have graduated.
-OR-
  • Preference eligible veteran who was precluded from applying due to their military service obligation begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion.
You must submit transcripts with your application for proof of education with degree conferred or expected date.

If substituting education for specialized experience, you must submit proof of your qualifying education.

Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.

DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system.

Failure to provide college transcripts may result in a rating of 'Ineligible'.

Additional information

CONVERSION REQUIREMENTS: DOE has the option to convert a Recent Graduate position to a permanent or term position upon successful completion of program requirements. This is not automatic, nor guaranteed. Conversion is at the discretion of the hiring manager and employing office. To be eligible to be converted to permanent or term position you must:

  • Be a US Citizen
  • Be recommended for conversion by your manager
  • Complete all training and development requirements within the 1-year appointment period.
  • Successful completion of 1 year of continuous service.
  • Have demonstrated successful job performance.
  • Met OPM qualification standard for the position to which you will be converted.
  • A Recent Graduate may be converted to the highest General Schedule (GS) grade level qualified for at time of conversion.
The U.S. Department of Energy fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  • The U.S. Department of Energy fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  • Hiring incentives may be authorized in accordance with agency policy and if funding is available.
  • This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE.
  • For general information on government-wide Telework polices visit: www.telework.gov
  • To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees.

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 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):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Research
  • Technical Competence
  • Technical Documentation


Application of Veterans' Preference: If you are a 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.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (03/14/2023) of this announcement.

To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click here https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11863063

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