Civil Engineer (Geotechnical)

Summary

Duties:

Serves as a technical expert responsible for the evaluation of embankments and subsurface conditions involving complex soil conditions for earth and rockfill dams, levees, spillway structures, pumping stations, bulkheads, cut-off walls, and other types of hydraulic structures

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Duties

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• Serve as Geotechnical Engineer technical expert for evaluation of complex embankment and subsurface conditions for dams, levees, spillways, pump stations, bulkheads, cutoff walls, and other hydraulic structures.
• Specialize in advanced seepage analysis through embankments and foundations, including under/through seepage in soil and rock masses and characterization of geohydraulic properties for design and remediation.
• Applies advanced soil and rock mechanics and embankment stability principles to the analysis and design of large, complex hydraulic systems (large pump stations, levee systems, earth/rockfill
• Develops, adapts, and implements criteria, standards, and procedures for embankment stability and seepage/under seepage analysis when existing COE/industry guidance is insufficient, including contribution to modification of standards.
• Performs 2D and 3D numerical modeling of embankment stability and seepage/under seepage using finite element and limit-equilibrium programs (e.g., Slope/W, Seep/W, Sigma/W, Seep2D, UTEXAS4, PLAXIS, FLAC), including constitutive model development.
• Conducts complex foundation under seepage evaluations in porous soils and rock masses, including 3D seepage flow modeling through foundations and assessment of subsurface parameters affecting stability and performance.
• Provides expert guidance on geotechnical field investigations, data interpretation, and presentation related to embankment stability and seepage, ensuring appropriate characterization of complex soil and rock conditions.
• Leads and facilitates multidisciplinary technical teams (District staff and A E firms) to diagnose unique geotechnical/seepage problems, develop solutions, resolve conflicting technical positions, and disseminate preferred practices.
• Serves as technical authority and District representative in meetings, conferences, and interagency forums with other USACE Districts, HQUSACE, Federal and state agencies, A E firms, contractors, and academic institutions
• Acts as primary point of contact for soils/subsurface mechanics relating to embankments and seepage; coordinates with Project Managers, sponsors, and external stakeholders to ensure delivery of high quality, technically sound products.
• Develops and implements training, mentoring, and technical support to enhance District capabilities in embankment stability, seepage analysis, and soil mechanics, and secures external expertise when required.
• Communicates complex technical concepts effectively in writing and orally, preparing reports, technical papers, and graphical presentations, and presenting to both technical and non technical audiences, including professional societies.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Upon completion of the construction phase, the position will relocate to the Jacksonville District Office. At that time, a 35% Temporary Duty (TDY) requirement will take effect.
• incumbent have to posses and maintain license/registration as a Professional Engineer. This license/registration must be in good standing and issued by any one of the 50 states or its territories.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

In order to qualify, you must meet the requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Civil Engineer:

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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), 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) examination, or any other written test required for professional registration, by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, or 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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.

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 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.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level performing senior level geotechnical engineering on complex embankments and major hydraulic structures to include independently planning, directing, and executing slope stability and seepage/underseepage analyses in soil and rock using 2D and/or 3D numerical modeling tools (e.g., SLOPE/W, SEEP/W, PLAXIS, FLAC or equivalent), and applying advanced soil and rock mechanics principles to assess stability, performance, and risk for projects with complex subsurface and loading conditions. Leading the preparation, presentation, and critical evaluation of technical designs; modifying and developing technical criteria and procedures for embankment stability and seepage. Experience advising leadership on conflicting technical, customer, and policy requirements; serving as an authoritative technical point of contact on embankment stability and seepage modeling and design; and providing expert consultation and clear written and oral communication of complex geotechnical issues to senior management, interagency partners, and both technical and nontechnical audiences.

Selective Placement Factor:

This position requires a current Professional Certification as an Architect, Engineer or Geologist

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-12).

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit:

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• This position requires a 1 year probationary period during which the agency evaluates your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In making this determination, the agency may consider your performance and conduct; agency needs and interests; whether your continued employment supports organizational or Government goals; and whether it promotes the efficiency of the Federal service. Continued employment requires written certification that it advances the public interest.
• Direct deposit of pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a(n) a Career Program Engineers and Scientists Career Field position
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit for more information.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.
• This position requires that the incumbent possess or obtain and maintain a valid state Driver's License in one of the 50 U.S. states or its possessions to operate vehicles.

The following special programs/incentives MAY be offered if it is in the best interest of the government:

• Student Loan repayment
• Advanced in-hire (offered to new to federal service employees only)
• Advanced Leave Accrual (offered to new to federal service employees only)
• Relocation Incentive
• Recruitment Incentive (offered to new to federal service employees only)

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to 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, based on your adjudication decision. 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 here:

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.

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