Interdisciplinary Engineer

Full Job Description

As an Interdisciplinary Engineer, you will serve as civil or electrical engineering technical authority at the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Headquarters.

The incumbent will serve as a senior technical expert responsible for providing scoping development, implementation and oversight for complex transmission line projects.

The incumbent will also serve as WAPA's technical expert for any design questions related to the construction and maintenance of high voltage transmission lines.

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirement AND Specialized Experience/Education requirements as noted below. Basic Requirements: You must meet one of the following: 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: 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.

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.

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.

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 meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements for the 0850/0855 Series, applicants must meet the specialized experience below.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level [GS-13] in the Federal service.

Specialized experience for this position is defined as: Applying advanced design concepts, principles and practices used for high voltage transmission lines including using PLS-CADD to develop drawings and specifications used for new construction, upgrades or modifications to new or existing transmission lines.

Time-in-Grade: Current career or career-conditional GS employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional GS employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current career or career-conditional federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Major Duties:

As an Interdisciplinary Engineer, you will: Serve as WAPA technical Project Representative responding to technical questions, during establishment and organization of design teams as a program/project engineer, Technical and Business Liaison.

Advise, guide and control the planning, design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of high voltage transmission line projects and processes.

Prepare and present briefings to senior management, regulators, and HQ staff on complex engineering programs and project status.

Resolve complex engineering program and project issues, including operational problems, through collaboration with technical experts within or outside the organization and serve as the technical authority for design process improvement and implementation.

Review and analyze project designs, drawings, proposals, changes, scopes of work, specifications and construction cost estimates for high voltage transmission lines.

Develop and prepare transmission line construction project designs, drawings, systems and material specifications, performance requirements, project costs and time estimates.

Develop conceptual transmission line corridors, plan and profile drawings for use in conceptual design discussions.

Coordinate and perform in-field assessments and audits relating to transmission line design and maintenance issues.

Technically direct dedicated contractor staff responsible for engineering project execution and interpret design documents to oversee overall project execution.

Review and approve contractor goals, objectives, work breakdown structures, detailed scope descriptions, risk management approaches, milestone descriptions, budgets, and staffing requirements.

Execute engineering program/project activities in compliance with Federal, State, and local regulations, laws, and standards.

Travel to Regions as required to provide technical support as well as advise on defining project scope and formalizing design data. Perform other duties as assigned.