Interdisciplinary

Summary

About the Position: Cost Engineer in the Engineering and Construction Division, Cost Engineering and Specifications Section. You will be a member of multidisciplinary teams to provide cost engineering and specification support for a variety of Civil Works Projects ranging from $250k to programs over a $1B. Projects include facilities O&M, hydraulic steel structure fabrication, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, rehabilitation of navigation structures and new navigations structures.

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Duties

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• Full performance grade (GS-12) should be able to do the following. Developmental grades (GS07-GS11) will gain on the job experience and training to perform the following.
• Applies professional knowledge of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering in relation to design and construction features to prepare cost engineering products for a wide variety of projects.
• Prepare cost products that are well organized, technically and economically sound, accurate, meet regulations and project requirements.
• Prepare and manage cost products including price quotes; quantity take-offs; construction estimates, schedules, and work plans; parametric estimates; technical analysis of contractor proposals and assist with contract negotiations.
• Prepare engineering cost estimates for planning, design, and execution of construction by contract projects.
• Prepare construction cost estimates and review construction estimates prepared by in-house personnel and contracted architects/engineers.
• Review contract documents (i.e., drawings and specifications) for completeness, provide comments and recommendations on how to improve the documents.
• Advise and interpret regulations, directives, and policies to management on specifications and cost estimates.
• Provide engineering advice, guidance, and recommendations to professional, technical, and administrative personnel.
• Coordinates specification and cost estimate work with others.
• Use of estimating software and other estimating tools such as Micro Computer Aided Cost Engineering System (MCACES MII).
• Prepare detailed technical specifications for new work as well as modifications to specifications for current contracts.
• Use of specifications writing software such as SPECSINTACT.
• Prepare cost informed (construction schedules using Primavera P6 or other advanced scheduling software.

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.
• Must be able to obtain Professional Engineer license within 1 year of placement to be eligible for selection at the GS 12 level.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education & 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, 0810; Mechanical Engineer, 0830; Electrical Engineer, 0850:

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

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 requirements above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience for GS-07: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as accomplishing developmental assignments utilizing basic engineering techniques, procedures, and methods; and completing limited engineering projects. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

OR

Education for GS-07: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.

Superior Academic Achievement for GS-07: In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (

OR

*QUALIFICATIONS CONTINUED UNDER EDUCATION...

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

Education

Combination of Education and Experience for GS-07: 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) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Specialized Experience for GS-09: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as assisting senior engineers in the preparation of plans and specifications, development of basic construction or project schedules, performing quantity take-offs for civil works or military projects and basic cost development. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07)

OR

Education for GS-09 : master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 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 perform the work of the position. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience for GS-09 : A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position if 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 first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Specialized Experience for GS-11: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as experience preparing plans and specifications, cost estimates, and project schedules (such as municipal projects, flood navigation, environmental, recreation, military projects and/or various types of buildings, supplies, and service contract work). Experience with quantity take off and cost estimating software, experience managing design or construction projects planning, developing, and/or reviewing cost estimates for projects in the phase; assisting with resolving most conflicts independently when producing technical specifications and/or cost estimates; and reviewing contract documents (i.e., drawings and specifications as a whole) for completeness and compatibility as well as for conformance to established standards. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09)

OR

Education for GS-11 : 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 perform the work of the position. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience for GS-11: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position if 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.

Specialized Experience for GS-12: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as overseeing the work of junior engineers or architect, participating in multidisciplinary design projects, independently planning, reviewing, and/or preparing technical specifications for contracts (such as municipal projects, flood navigation, environmental, recreation, military projects and/or various types of buildings, supplies, and service contract work); planning, reviewing, and/or developing cost estimates for projects in all phases of construction or operations and maintenance; implementing knowledge of contractor means and methods; performing and validating quantity take offs, coordinating and performing project schedules for civil or military construction projects, applied experience with cost estimating software and providing technical guidance on the review of engineering documents to ensure conformance to established standards. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11)

Additional information

• 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:
• This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.
• This position will be filled at the GS-07, GS-09, GS-11, GS-12 level. If selected at the GS-07, GS-09, or GS-11 level, noncompetitive promotion to the full performance level is authorized.
• Incentives may be authorized.
• 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) Engineers & Scientists Career Field 18 position
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.

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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