General Engineer

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Facilities and Asset Management; Integrated Services Division; Technical Services Program Management Office located in Washington, DC; Euless, TX; and Aliso Viejo, TX.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

This position is located within the Integrated Services (IS) Division, which brings together a diverse workforce, including Certified Program Managers, acquisition professionals, Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs), energy and environmental specialists, real estate professionals, architects, engineers, and technical designers to develop optimal solutions to meet the needs of OFAM and business partners. The General Engineer serves as a senior technical expert for CBP facilities projects, providing engineering guidance across facility planning, design, construction, maintenance, and disposal. The position develops and applies facility design standards, resolves complex building-system and compliance issues, reviews technical documents and cost estimates, and coordinates with stakeholders and contractors throughout the project lifecycle.

This work supports CBP's mission by ensuring facilities are safe, reliable, compliant, and operationally effective for frontline personnel and mission-support operations.

This position starts at a salary of $125,776.00 (GS-14, Step 1) to $163,514.00 (GS-14, Step 10).

• Recommends, develops, and applies technical requirements, facility design standards, and engineering guidance for complex facilities projects throughout the facility lifecycle, including planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and disposal.
• Develops engineering solutions using applicable design standards, building codes, construction practices, fire and life-safety codes, environmental and historic-preservation requirements, and accessibility standards.
• Resolves complex facility and building-system issues involving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; equipment failures; electrical power outages; building automation; fire alarms; water or air quality; site adaptations; code changes; or space constraints.
• Coordinates with senior leaders, facility stakeholders, on-site managers, facility users, government officials, program managers, partner agencies, contractors, and private-sector technical experts to address complex engineering and facility issues.
• Provides senior technical guidance on facility design standards, engineering requirements, fire and life-safety codes, accessibility requirements, and project-specific technical approaches.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this position
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with Selective Service
• Primary U.S. residency for at least three of the last five years (additional details below)
• All pre-employment processes will be conducted in English
• You may be required to pass a background investigation
• CBP follows the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan for drug testing procedures
• As an employee of CBP, you will be joining a workforce that is dedicated to accomplishing our mission while maintaining the trust of our Nation by strictly adhering to all government ethics standards. Your conduct will be subject to the ethics rules applicable to all Executive Branch employees, and to CBP employees specifically, as well as the criminal conflict of interest statutes. Once you enter on duty, these rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity, to ensure such employment or business activity is not prohibited and does not interfere or conflict with performance of your official duties. Please review further details via the following link.
• DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify including your rights and responsibilities.
• Bargaining Unit: This is a bargaining unit covered position, represented under the National Treasury Employees Unions - NTEU. For local chapter contact information see Chapter Websites - National Treasury Employees Union - NTEU
• Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment. Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period.

Qualifications

This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR).

Basic Requirement(s):

A. Degree in 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 (5) five of the following (7) seven areas of engineering science or physics:

1. Statics, dynamics;
2. Strength of materials (stress-strain relationships);
3. Fluid mechanics, hydraulics;
4. Thermodynamics;
5. Electrical fields and circuits;
6. Nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and
7. 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.

ALONG WITH THE BASIC REQUIREMENT/IOR LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST POSSESS AT LEAST ONE (1) YEAR OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AS DESCRIBED BELOW TO QUALIFY BASED ON EXPERIENCE.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-14 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Managing engineering or architectural projects involving facility planning, design, construction, renovation, maintenance, or repair for operational facilities or other complex buildings.
• Identifying and resolving complex facility or building-system issues involving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; electrical power; fire alarms; building automation; safety; accessibility; environmental requirements; or building-code compliance.
• Developing or reviewing facility design standards, project requirements, technical recommendations, cost estimates, design changes, or operational improvements.
• Preparing or reviewing technical project documents, bid or contract packages, contractor proposals and work products, inspection reports, or project closeout documentation.
• Coordinating with organizational leaders, project managers, contractors, technical specialists, and external partners to assess facilities, monitor project or contractor performance, and implement engineering solutions.

NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements.

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.

You must meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process by 10/06/2026.

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.

Background Investigation: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a federal law enforcement agency that requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to employment in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity. During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions or current felony charges, the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), and the use of non-prescribed controlled substances including any experimentation, possession, sale, receipt, manufacture, cultivation, production, transfer, shipping, trafficking, or distribution of controlled substances. For additional information on the preemployment process, review the following link: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers

Residency: There is a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by CBP. Individuals are required to have physically resided in the United States or its protectorates (as declared under international law) for at least three of the last five years. If you do not meet the residency requirement and you have been physically located in a foreign location for more than two of the last five years, you may request an exception to determine if you are eligible for a residency waiver by meeting one or more of the following conditions:

• Working for the U.S. Government as a federal civilian or as a member of the military
• A dependent who was authorized to accompany a federal civilian or member of the military who was working for the U.S. government
• Participation in a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. affiliated college or university
• Working as a contractor, intern, consultant or volunteer supporting the U.S. government

Education

Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.

Additional information

The vacancy questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions. This provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.

Certification Requirement: The selectee must serve as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and obtain COR Level II certification within 18 months of onboarding. Applicants will be asked to confirm whether they currently hold, or can obtain, the required certification within this timeframe.

The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

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.

Review our 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.