Duties

Tour of Duty: Day (Monday - Friday) Hours will be determined upon selection (Hours may change due to operational needs of Management)

New Construction and Renovation Planning and Evaluation:

Manages accessibility portions of major new construction and/or renovation projects and ensures that ADA guidelines and adequate accessibility requirements are incorporated and adhered to in all phases of design and construction projects.

Specifies and analyzes project design including a wide variety of accessibility requirements for fire detection, egress passageways, bathroom layout including plumbing fixtures. The requirements involve complicated integration of accessibility solutions into the fire protection, mechanical, electrical, and architectural systems that must interface with facility equipment and operations.

Plans and conducts advanced work in areas where accessibility criteria is not established.
Investigates new developments in the area of accessibility and applies them to existing facilities and new projects.

Reviews and critiques designs developed by associate architects and engineers, and reviews the submittals from and performance of contractors, to ensure compliance with the program/project requirements and with nationally recognized and organizationally adopted codes, standards or directives as adopted by the AOC.

Regulatory Consultation, Data Analysis and Technical Guidance:

Provides policy and procedural consultation, advice and guidance on complex scientific, regulatory and compliance issues with expertise in the area of accessibility for all of the AOC.

Develops cost effective data collection and monitoring. Creates field surveys of existing architectural, landscapes, fire protection, mechanical, electrical and life safety system installations when required to mediate a specific physical barrier related to accessibility or accessibility code compliance within projects.
Independently conducts periodic inspections of AOC infrastructure and grounds to identify and report compliance problems. And oversight activities that include surveying, establishing and monitoring programs and initiating corrective measures and programs based on surveys and monitoring.

Maintains close liaison with government and private professional engineers, architects, research organizations, industry, technical organizations and building operators in order to keep abreast of the latest developments within the specialization, and to provide current information for use in the revision and updating of accessibility criteria.

Serves as code liaison to the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services (OCAS) to address code related solutions with jurisdictions. Prepares responses to questionnaires, correspondence, deficiency reports, warnings and other communications from agencies that monitor AOC facilities and operations.

Problem Resolution:

Uses advanced technical knowledge of the limitations of proven concepts and practices of providing accessibility adapted systems, equipment, and/or hardware to correctly evaluate problem resolution alternatives or the risk associated with using or replacing a nonconforming component.

Maintains technical insight into the cause and the plan of action when damaged, failed, or otherwise nonconforming hardware, equipment, or systems are encountered.

Prepares policies, requirements analysis and definition, technical evaluations, and makes recommendations to management within the functional and/or technical area of expertise.

Project Management:

Functions as a technical authority and staff specialist for accessibility projects of major size and complexity, and for accessibility information.

Maintains liaison with engineers who are expert in related fields in order to keep abreast of the latest trends and innovations in design or testing techniques and procedures.

Acts as a Project Manager or Task Leader on assigned projects, acting as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), preparation, revision and maintenance of graphical data for use in accessibility equipment and systems design, furnishing advice and counsel to the agency and conducting studies, investigations, through practical application in buildings, of new accessibility equipment, devices and materials.

Contractor Oversight:

Serves under a project manager as the person in charge of the accessibility aspects of projects (a task leader) which usually requires the coordination with other functional experts as part of an integrated team, and which require the use of a broad base of accessibility expertise.

Performs other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• You must be able to pass a drug test.
• You must meet the education requirements for Engineer or Architect.

To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:

A citizen of the United States;

A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);

A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;

A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or

A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications .

You must also meet the education requirements for Engineer or Architect.

Specialized experience: is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

Candidates for the GS-13 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower GS-12 grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as having experience in at least 4 out of 5 of the following areas:

Managing an accessibility compliance program.

Managing and developing an organization's construction specifications.

Preparing policies, requirements analysis technical evaluations, and making recommendations to management in the field of accessibility.

Acting as a Project Manager or Task Leader on design, construction and/or modification of buildings and grounds system projects.

Serving as Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or equivalent to provide oversight of contractor project performance.

Education

In addition to meeting the specialized experience requirements for this position, applicants must possess the following:

Education Required for Engineers :

Bachelor's degree in professional engineering: To be creditable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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: -- statics, dynamics; -- strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); -- fluid mechanics, hydraulics; -- thermodynamics; -- electrical fields and circuits; -- nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and -- 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 professional 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: (a) current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico; (b) evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration; (c) successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences that are fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum; or (d) successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field.

http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/

Education Required for Architects:

Bachelor's Degree in architecture; or related field that included 60 semester hours of course work in architecture or related disciplines of which at least (1) 30 semester hours were in architectural design, and (2) 6 semester hours were in each of the following: structural technology, properties of materials and methods of construction, and environmental control systems

--OR--

Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished: (1) a thorough knowledge of the arts and sciences underlying professional architecture, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the architectural principles, methods, and techniques and their applications to the design and construction or improvement of buildings. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by at least one of the following:

Related Curriculum: Degree in architectural engineering may be accepted.

Experience: An applicant lacking a degree in architecture must have had l year of experience in an architect's office or in architectural work for each year short of graduation from a program of study in architecture. In the absence of college courses, 5 years of such experience is required. This experience must have demonstrated that the applicant has acquired a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional architecture.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education :

Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment.

Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part of foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree.

You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course-by-course listing if selected.

http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/architecture-series-0808/

Additional information

Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit http://www.opm.gov/veterans/html/vetguide.asp#6 .

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC's suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position who is not currently an AOC employee is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide and cover the cost for the drug test.

The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol.

The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm

The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or disability.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Moving expenses are not authorized.

Relocation expenses are not authorized.

Probationary Period - A newly appointed selectee is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol.

All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.