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General Engineer (Research)

Department of Housing and Urban Development
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research

Summary

This position is located at Department of Housing and Urban Development, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation and Monitoring, and the Division of Affordable Housing Research and Technology.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
05/07/2026 to 05/21/2026
Salary
$121,785 - $158,322 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Alexandria, VA
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
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
26-HUD-12954115-DH
Control number
868083600

Duties

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HUD's Mission
The mission of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is to foster strong communities by supporting access to quality, affordable housing, expanding the housing supply, and unlocking homeownership opportunities for the American people. The Department is committed to furthering the promise of self-sufficiency in every American while promoting economic development to revitalize rural, tribal, and urban communities across the country.

This position is located in the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation and Monitoring, and the Division of Affordable Housing Research and Technology..PD&R is responsible for providing advice and information to the Secretary to further the agency's, policy agenda; for maintaining current information to monitor housing needs, housing market conditions, and the operation of existing programs; and for conducting research on priority housing and community development issues. The Division of Affordable Housing Research and Technology is responsible for planning, developing, and administering all research and analyses on the production and supply of housing and the technical and structural aspects of community development. The Division addresses all physical, structural, developmental technology, regulatory, environmental, and related issues needed to support the Department's commitment to ensure a decent, safe, and sanitary housing in a suitable living environment for all Americans.

As a General Engineer (Research), you will:
- Conduct, develop, and plan research, studies, and demonstrations involving the use of residential construction innovations focusing on energy, disaster, and infrastructure planning from an engineering perspective and skill set.
- Represent the Department on interagency technical panels regarding codes and standards, new construction techniques, materials and building systems research, fire safety, earthquake design, environmental hazards, handicap accessibility, energy conservation and others.
- Serve as a technical consultant to the Department in the design of technical data collection systems, perform system analysis as appropriate on construction systems and components and provide quick responses to special problems
- Serve as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) on research contracts, grants or cooperative agreements, as assigned.
- Participate in the review and evaluation of research and demonstration proposals from other agencies and the private sector in addressing residential design and construction systems, and regulatory applications.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

The official duty station for this position will be in Alexandria, Virginia. Failure to report to duty at this location may be grounds for a disciplinary action, including removal.

Key Requirements:

  • Must be U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
  • A one year probationary period may be required. Continued employment is contingent upon supervisory certification that continued employment will benefit the Federal Service; the certification will occur no less than 30 days before the end of the probationary/trial period.
  • Must successfully complete a background investigation.
  • Public Trust - Background Investigation will be required.
  • Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
  • Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
  • If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
  • Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form i-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
  • Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
  • Please refer to "Additional Information Section for additional Conditions of Employment."???????
  • File a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Specialized Experience: For the GS-13, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes:
- Documenting research findings, technical specifications, and studies presentable to stakeholders and leadership. OR
- Developing and conducting experimental studies involving the use of residential construction innovations. OR
- Providing technical advice on engineering issues affecting housing program projects.


The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resume.

Education

The education generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.

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:
1. 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.)

Additional information

OTHER INFORMATION:

  • We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
  • Relocation expenses will not be paid.
  • Relocation incentive will not be paid.
  • Recruitment incentive will not be paid.
  • This is a bargaining unit position.
  • This position is Non-Exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
  • HUD offers alternative and flexible work schedules.
  • This announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies for similar positions across HUD. During the online application process, you will be asked to specify if you would like your application information shared with other hiring managers in the Program Office listed in this announcement or in other HUD Program Offices. Opting to share your application information will not impact your application for this announcement, nor will it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (CONTINUED):

HUD employees are subject to a number of government-wide and HUD specific ethics laws and regulations, including restrictions on working in a real estate related business, and having Section 8 tenants, along with other prohibited interests and activities. To review applicable ethics rules and HUD specific restrictions, please visit https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/general_counsel/ethics.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS:

If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

***This announcement is issued under "Direct-Hire" authority. Consistent with 5 U.S.C 3304(a)(3) and OPM regulations (5 CFR 337 Subpart B) on direct-hire: All candidates who meet all the qualification and other eligibility requirements may be referred for consideration. Competitive examining rules providing for rating and ranking, category rating, and veterans' preference do not apply.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and the result of the online assessments required for this position. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

To be deemed well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and provide documented experience that:

  1. Shows depth of specialized experience in technical knowledge and skill areas
  2. Demonstrates proficiency across most or all the core competency requirements of the role
  3. Provides evidence of successfully handling tasks and responsibilities like those in the current position.

Rating: You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan(CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)) you must be assigned the middle category or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research

Agency contact information

Applicant Call Center
Phone
304-480-7300
Email
hudinquiries@fiscal.treasury.gov
Address
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research
Treasury Common Services Center
Parkersburg, WV 26101
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/administration/careers

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