Clarification from the agency

Open to all Status eligible applicants.

Videos

The General Engineer works with project engineers, resident engineers, National Cemetery Administration central office project managers, medical center directors, cemetery directors and Continental District office staff. The assigned engineer will provide needed professional engineering expertise in other areas. This includes, for example, special studies, cost­ comparisons, landscape plans, and the general operating expense/maintenance and repair (M&R) program. In accomplishing the above, the incumbent must be constantly alert to various local, county, state, and Federal, building, safety, fire and environmental codes throughout the district. Beyond the engineer duties associated directly with district construction projects, the duties of the incumbent are also to provide guidance and support to appropriate program officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) and all the NCA districts for national cemetery design and construction.

Responsible for the engineering analysis, development, design and the preparation of complete plans and specifications for new engineering projects within the district. In this capacity, he/she will assist the supervisory general engineer in the oversight of all district construction projects. Assignments include all engineering design phases of complex construction, extension, alteration, maintenance and repair projects. Incumbent is independently responsible and held accountable for determining necessary action in the development and completion of design projects, coordination of project staff that may include non-VA architects, engineers, and technicians. Must possess extensive knowledge of environmental/general engineering and how to appropriately apply that knowledge to special problems encountered in national cemeteries with specific knowledge of geographic concerns relevant to the district.

Performs public outreach as needed.

Work schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Available
Telework: Available
Remote/Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position.

Position Description Title/PD#: General Engineer/PD1645628
The full performance level of this position is GS - 13.
Relocation Expenses: Not authorized
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• Subject to a background/security investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 11/12/2024.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If your most recent non-award SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade.
Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

• Must possess and maintain a valid state driver's license.

You may qualify based on your education AND experience, as described below:

• Basic Requirements: Applicants must meet the following basic requirements:
  • 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.
    • 2. 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.
    • 3. 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.
    • 4. 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.)
    • Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise.

In addition to the basic requirements listed above, applicants must also meet specialized experience for the GS 13.

GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience on land development projects and related cemetery planning, design, and construction concepts; reviewing preliminary engineering reports and related design documents (drawings and specifications); experience negotiating with Architects and Engineers in the preparation of design documents; and developing and revising agency engineering standards; experience with the contracting process to include writing specifications for projects, performing quality assurance reviews; experience with engineering practices involving construction, planning, cost factoring, energy applications, and standard trade practices.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Civil Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Planning and Evaluating
• Project Management
• Writing

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; religions; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary and is performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office.

Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.