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Engineering Technician (Civil) {SEASONAL}

Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is in the Construction Branch Field Pool of the Central Federal Lands Highway Division in Colorado; Nevada; New Mexico, and California. Federal Highway Administration has Engineering Technician (Construction) positions available in Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFHLD). Projects occur primarily on Federal Lands managed by other Federal agencies (e.g., National Park Service & U.S. Forest Service) & include multi-state areas

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
11/14/2024 to 01/21/2025
Salary
$86,962 to - $125,685 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Clovis, CA
Grand Junction, CO
Lakewood, CO
Albuquerque, NM
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—The position may be eligible for telework. This is not a full-time telework position or approved as a remote work position.
Travel Required
76% or greater - This position requires regular visits to outdoor construction sites.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Seasonal - Please Note: This is a seasonal position. Positions are full time during the field construction period and placed in non-pay status during the off season. The construction period typically runs from April through December.
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes - The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of appointment and annually thereafter.
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
FHWA.CFL-2025-0004
Control number
819092600

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Duties

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As an Engineering Technician (Civil) {SEASONAL}, you will:

  • Be responsible for day-to-day project activity coordination with the client or cooperating agency representatives, state and county units, local municipalities, and other interested groups.
  • Administer the construction contract by providing staff and contractor direction and control to ensure that CFLHD projects are constructed according to plans and specifications, reflect the intent of the design, and serve the needs of the client/public.
  • Be responsible for the attainment of established construction specification requirements. Determine the necessity for issuance of directives and contract modifications to the contractor.
  • Maintain/monitor fiscal control relative to the execution of the construction contract.
  • Be responsible for the measurement/documentation of work completed on a daily basis as well as the preparation of monthly progress estimates, final estimates, and the engineering, administrative, and technical reports required by contract provisions and agency policy.

The ideal candidate for this position has experience inspecting and administering all phases of highway construction contracts. The target applicants are mid to late career hires. These positions are perfect for Engineering Technicians who thrive on working with contractors on highway construction projects

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
  • You must meet specialized experience 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.
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • DRIVER'S LICENSE: You must have a valid state driver’s license and be fully qualified to operate a government-owned vehicle.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
  • DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • PHYSICAL CONDITIONS: The work requires extensive standing, walking, climbing, bending, lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds. In addition, you will be exposed to varying weather and terrain conditions.
  • TRAVEL: The position involves a significant amount of travel away from your duty station for extended periods of time. Travel may often be to remote locations. You must be willing to travel for extended periods of time, often to remote locations.
  • TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: This position may be eligible for occasional and/or regularly scheduled telework. The number of telework days approved will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.

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.

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-12: On Experience, you must have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade levelwhich included:

  • Experience as the person in charge or equivalent responsible for the administration and inspection of Federal, State or local highway construction projects that included major operations such as grading, drainage, bridge construction, retaining wall construction, traffic flow and maintenance, and recycled or conventional paving; AND
  • Experience leading the work of staff performing highway construction project/inspection activities; AND
  • Experience coordinating with partners and project stakeholders to resolve issues related to highway construction projects.

You cannot qualify based on education at the GS-12 level, you must have experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will also be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  1. Engineering Technical Knowledge- Knowledge of the concepts, principles and methods required to provide technical assistance.
  2. Contracting- Knowledge of how to administer contract requirements in order to ensure that projects are constructed in accordance with the plans, specifications, and requirements.
  3. Written Communication- Write in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
  4. Oral Communication- Make clear and convincing oral presentations. Listen effectively; clarify 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.

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Additional information

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, FairChanceAct@dot.gov. To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation

SEASONAL POSITION - Please Note: This is a seasonal position. Positions are full time during the field construction period and placed in non-pay status during the off season. The construction period typically runs from April through December. Employees may be called back to attend selected classes during the off season for two to three weeks at the official duty station, Lakewood, Colorado. Training is scheduled normally January through March of each year.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS- The work requires extensive standing, walking, climbing, bending, lifting, and carrying up to 50 pounds. In addition, you will be exposed to varying weather and terrain conditions.

This posting establishes an open-continuous 3-month/90-day announcement. The first review of applications will be 15 days from the opening date, then applications will be reviewed as needed.

This is not a Bargaining unit position.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

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: Highly Qualified and 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.


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