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Fire Protection Engineer

Department of Commerce
Office of the Secretary
Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality (OFEQ)

Summary

This vacancy is for Fire Protection Engineer in the Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality (OFEQ) within the Department of Commerce. This position will serve as one of the delegated authorities with jurisdiction for fire protection and life safety.

Overview

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Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$121,785 - $187,093 per year
Pay scale & grade
ZP 4
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
OS-OFEQ-DE-26-13025693
Control number
878802600

Duties

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As a Fire Protection Engineer, you will:

  • Serve as delegated authority in the development of fire prevention projects; the design, construction, inspection, testing, or operation of firefighting or fire-prevention appliances, devices, and systems, or the testing of fire-resistant materials.
  • Provide support in the installation, operations, maintenance, and testing of fire protection and life safety systems and sub-systems (fire suppression, fire alarm, mass notification, special hazard, egress, etc.) related to activities and building construction/renovation activities.
  • Ensure the Department of Commerce complies with industry standards and codes. Review design and construction projects to evaluate adequacy of fire protection and life safety with contractual requirements, adopted building codes, and industry standards.
  • Manage the Fire Sprinkler, Fire Alarm, Life Safety, and Mass Notification System, and system capacity calculations.
  • Advise on, administer, or perform research or other professional and scientific work in fire investigation. Develop prescriptive and performance-based approaches to solving various fire protection and life safety issues.

This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Fire Protection Engineer ZP-0804-4, FPL 4 positions within the Department of Commerce in the same geographical location or local commuting area with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
  • You must successfully pass a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.
  • A probationary period may be required.
  • Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/).
  • If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
  • All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
  • Bargaining Unit Position: No
  • Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE form 450): No
  • Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Expense: Will not be paid
  • Drug Test Required: No

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Occupational-Series

Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

This position is being filled under the Department of Commerce Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career path and pay band.

The ZP-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14 grade levels.
To qualify at the ZP-4 level:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

A bachelor's degree (or higher) 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

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 fire protection/ fire prevention, (or 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.)

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 (or equivalent pay band) in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as:

  • Inspecting buildings or building designs to determine dangerous fire hazards and to identify placement of fire protection systems; and
  • Advising employers, architects, builders, and other construction personnel on fire prevention techniques, equipment, industry standards, and fire code compliance; and
  • Recommending appropriate fire protection equipment, alarm systems, and fire extinguishing devices and systems in commercial buildings.

Education

See the "Qualifications Section" for the positive education requirements for this position.

NOTE: If this position requires proof of higher education, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp for more information.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of coursework and degree. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course-by-course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

Additional information

The following links provide information on various hiring authorities that do not fall under competitive examining procedures; however, they may enable you to apply through merit assignment procedures or be eligible for a non-competitive appointment.

  1. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)
  2. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)
  3. Military Spouse Non-Competitive Hiring Authority

ICTAP and CTAP Eligibles: CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a rating of 85 out of 100. Information about ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Career Transition Resources website at: Employee Guide to Career Transition. See the "Required Documents" section for specific documents.

Military Spouse: The spouse of a member of the armed forces seeking eligibility under the non-competitive hiring authority of certain military spouses MUST submit various required documentation by the closing date of the announcement in accordance with one of the three eligibilities below:

  • Spouse of a member of the armed forces serving on active duty,
  • Spouse of a service member who incurred a 100% disability, or
  • Un-remarried widow or widower of a service member killed while performing active duty.

Please review the "Required Documents" Section for specific documents pertaining to each of the above eligibilities that MUST be included with your application, if you are applying as a Military Spouse.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Reasonable Accommodations (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that will interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request an RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received before starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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 RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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., two-page resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the results of the USA Hire assessment and Structured Resume Review required for this position.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume). Applicants passing the structured resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, you will be placed in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are "gold", "silver" and "bronze". Candidates placed in the "gold" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager.

How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. Preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest quality category (gold) depending on the position and grade level of the job. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating.

For Certain Military Spouses: All applicants who meet the qualification requirements and military spouse noncompetitive eligibility requirements (see "Additional Information" section above) will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for consideration on a separate referral list. While veterans' preference is not a consideration when filling positions under the military spouse non-competitive hiring authority, preference eligibles are encouraged to submit their supporting documentation (DD-214, stating disposition of discharge or character of service, VA letter, SF-15, etc.).

The assessments will evaluate you on the following general/technical competencies required to perform the job; please do not provide a separate written response:

Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, Teamwork, Fire Management, Safety Engineering, Technical Competence, and Compliance.

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.

Do NOT include the following types of information in your resume/application. If any are included, you will be deemed INELIGIBLE for consideration.

  • Classified or government-sensitive information
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Photos of yourself
  • Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process. To preview the questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13025693

Office of the Secretary

The Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality (OFEQ) provides a variety of facility support and infrastructure management services to the Department of Commerce, enabling the operating units to achieve their strategic goals. OFEQ is part of the Office of the Secretary (OS) and reports directly to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.

OFEQ establishes and implements policies and procedures for real property management, including Facility acquisition and space management and Energy conservation and environmental stewardship programs. In accordance with the GSA/DOC Building Delegation agreement, OFEQ also provides building services for the Herbert C. Hoover Building (HCHB) and oversees the HCHB Renovation Project - a $1 billion, 13-year project to renovate and modernize the building.

Agency contact information

Shawn Blain
Email
sblain1@doc.gov
Address
Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20230
US

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https://www.commerce.gov/

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