Supervisory Civil Engineer (Deputy District Engineer)

Summary

Want to have positive impact working in diverse environments? Join us at IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction! We collaborate with American Indian Tribes to plan, design, and construct water, wastewater, and solid waste facilities. Visit or email View email address on click.appcast.io. Position is eligible for the IHS Student Loan Repayment Program with selection based on IHS priorities and available funds.

A REAL ID will be required beginning May 7, 2025, in accordance with 6 C.F.R. 37.5 (2021)

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

This position is being announced concurrently under Excepted Service/Merit Promotion Examining procedures. Please review vacancy announcement number IHS-26-HQ-12950951-ESEP/MP for eligibility requirements.

The incumbent, as Deputy District Engineer, will be responsible for directing, planning, managing, and coordinating the program mission to oversee the design and construction of complex water, sewer and solid waste projects to American Indian Tribes by:

• Providing supervision and technical guidance of project engineers, as well as technical and administrative staff.
• Selecting candidates for vacancies, promotions, details, and reassignments in consideration of skills and qualifications, mission requirements, and EEO and diversity objectives.
• Directing planning, design, and construction activities for community and individual water supply, wastewater, and solid waste facilities.
• Responsible for the production of technical engineering designs, plans, specifications, and engineering studies and reports in the district.
• Reviewing, evaluating, and making recommendations to the District Engineer on design, construction practices, project summaries, memoranda of agreement, engineering plans, specifications, engineering studies and final reports.
• Ensuring overall data quality throughout the District in the Sanitation Tracking and Reporting System (STARS).

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

Selectee may be subject to a probationary period

U.S. Citizenship is required

Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

Must have a valid State driver's License. It must be REAL ID-compliant.

IHS Selectees whose duties and responsibilities require them to work permanently, temporarily, or occasionally in an IHS healthcare facility must comply with the IHS Employee Immunization Policy related to vaccine-preventable diseases, consistent with recommendations for healthcare workers. Vaccine exemption requests may be available, as outlined in the IHS Employee Immunization Policy and facility guidance.

This is a designated position covered by Public Law 101-630, requiring contact or control over Indian children. Due to this requirement, the agency must ensure that persons hired for these positions have not been found guilty of or pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to certain crimes.

A one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period may be required upon selection/placement.

Confidential Financial Disclosure Form may be required.

The selected individual is required to obtain and maintain Professional Engineer Licensure. If licensure isn't maintained during employment, the employee will be subject to adverse actions, up to and including removal from Federal service.

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit

Must have a viable bank account at a financial institution for electronic direct deposit of salary payment.

Background Investigation Requirement:

This position requires the successful completion of a federal background investigation as a condition of employment.

A background investigation is a standard process used by the Federal Government to verify an individual's identity, employment history, education, and other relevant information to determine suitability for Federal service.

Upon receipt of instructions, applicants must complete all required background investigation forms within five (5) calendar days of issuance. Timely completion is critical to avoid delays in processing or a determination of unsuitability.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to prioritize this requirement and to maintain regular communication with their assigned Personnel Security Specialist throughout the process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

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; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

BASIC REQUIREMENT(S) :

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), 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, 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.)

In addition, to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below-

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks:

GS-12: Experience providing technical advice to management and staff concerning operational issues of community and individual water supply, wastewater, or solid waste facilities; preparing design documents, construction drawings, technical specifications and procurement documents; and preparing/reviewing engineering reports and cost estimates for funded projects.

AND

Selective Factor: In addition to the qualification requirements, to be rated basically qualified for the position, applicants must demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs):

• Professional and comprehensive knowledge of the theories, principles, practices and techniques of civil/environmental health and engineering as evidenced by possession of a Professional Engineering (PE) license issued by any U.S. State the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

This position has an education requirement. Submit a copy of your transcripts or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed, and grades. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. Official transcripts will be required from all selectees prior to receiving an official offer.

Only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may be credited. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website:

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit

Additional information

Additional selection(s) of candidates may be possible within 240 days from the date the certificate of eligibles was issued for this announcement.

Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. IHS may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their directly related previous non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave.

This position is ineligible for the Bargaining Unit.

Recruitment or relocation incentives may be authorized. At least a one-year service agreement will be required.

The Indian Health Service (IHS), National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have student loan repayment programs for qualifying health disciplines. This is a competitive process separate from the hiring process. Opportunities for LRP are based on agency hiring priorities and availability of funds. For additional information please visit:

For IHS -

Prior to the appointment, candidates must present two valid forms of identification. If one of the documents is a state-issued ID or driver's license, it must be REAL ID-compliant.

Financial Suitability Requirement:

This position requires a review of the applicant's financial history as part of the personnel security and suitability determination. Applicants must demonstrate financial responsibility, maintain good standing with creditors, and satisfy all legal financial obligations prior to applying.

Individuals with substantial delinquent or unresolved financial obligations-including, but not limited to, delinquent federal or state tax liabilities, defaulted federal student loans, court-ordered fines or fees, or child support arrears-may be deemed unsuitable for employment with the Indian Health Service (IHS).

You will be evaluated for this position in accordance with the OPM Merit Hiring Plan.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide short essay responses (200 words or less each) to the following four questions.

1. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government?
2. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness?
3. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?
4. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements?

• Your responses are optional and will not be scored.
• However, they may be reviewed by hiring managers and agency leadership (or designees) during the evaluation process.
• You will be asked to certify that your responses are written in your own words and that you did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) tool (such as ChatGPT or Copilot).

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.

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.

Help

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.