Civil Engineer (Structural)

Summary

This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.

About the Position: The Walla Walla District US Army Corps of Engineers helps manage local water resources for navigation, flood damage reduction, disaster assistance, hydroelectric power generation, and other natural and heritage areas.

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Duties

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• Required full performance responsibilities listed below of a GS-12 are graduated based on hiring grade level. Applicant is expected to work towards achieving all responsibilities as appropriate at each grade.
• Serves as technical lead for structural features of civil works projects to include hydropower, navigation, fish passage, recreation, and flood protection.
• Prepares designs and performs analyses of structural components subjected to static and dynamic loads including hydrostatic, hydrodynamic, wind, snow, ice, and seismic loading.
• Perform preliminary and final structural design, including indeterminate analyses, advanced computer modeling, and finite elements analyses.
• Prepares preliminary and final structural designs including drawings, specifications, analyses, and other necessary supporting related documentation for structural designs using a diversity of materials.
• Reviews in-house and architect-engineer's structural designs and coordinates/assures designs conform with current design criteria.
• Act as a specialist in the field of structural engineering principles and the application of data processing to resolve structural problems associated with work assignments or in support of others.
• Act as a specialist in the field of structural engineering principles and the application of data processing to resolve structural problems associated with work assignments or in support of others.
• Mentor junior engineers.

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.
• The duties of this position require the incumbent to possess or obtain and maintain a valid state Driver's License in one of the 50 U.S. states or possessions to operate vehicles.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience 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 (Structural):

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:

GS-11 Specialized Experience : One year of specialized experience which includes (1) assisting in design of structural features through calculations such as: using spreadsheets, and structural analysis/finite element analysis software by following current codes and standard practice; (2) assisting in development of structural engineering plans and specifications; AND (3) assisting in the performance/documentation of field inspections. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09). TIP: All three aspects of this specific experience MUST be well documented in your resume to be referred to the selection panel.

OR

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Civil Engineer or Structural Engineer.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

GS-12 Specialized Experience : One year of specialized experience which includes (1) designing structural features through calculations such as: using spreadsheets, and structural analysis/finite element analysis software by following current codes and standard practice; (2) developing structural engineering plans and specifications; (3) performing/documenting field inspections, AND (4) performing technical reviews of structural designs developed by others. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11 or above). TIP: All four aspects of this specific experience MUST be well documented in your resume to be referred to the selection panel.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For the GS-12 job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience aloneno substitution of education for experience is permitted.

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 Construction, Engineering, and Infrastructure Career Field position.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• 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.
• Management may select at any of the grade levels announced.
• Noncompetitive promotion potential to target grade.
• Professional Engineering License is HIGHLY desirable for the GS-12 and should be mentioned in resume if obtained.
• You MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or one of the alternate Basic Requirements listed above, or you will be rated ineligible.

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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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.

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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.