TRAVEL REQUIRED:

Not required

RELOCATION AUTHORIZED:
Relocation expenses reimbursed No

KEY REQUIREMENTS:
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You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.

You must meet the definition of specialized experience.

Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.

Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)

Suitable for Federal employment.

Candidates must live near, or be willing to relocate or commute to the DC metro area.  

You must meet the following United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements for the advertised position. OPM's prescribed Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Patent Examiner Series, GS-1224,can be found at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1200/patent-examining-series-1224/

You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: 

To be considered for this position, you must have either: (A) successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering; OR (B) a combination of qualifying education and experience.  

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.

The curriculum must: 

1.  Be 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: 

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 to particle and aggregate structure to properties) 

g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics or electronics 

OR 

B) A combination of Education and Experience. This combination of college-level education, training and/or technical experience must have furnished both: 

• A thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering; 

AND 

• A good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their application to professional engineering. 

This can be demonstrated by one of the following: 

1. Professional registration-- Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico. 

2. Written test-- Evidence of passing the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration, administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in various States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. 

3. Specified academic courses-- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours in the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences and including the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A. 

4. Related curriculum-- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of an Engineering degree, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience with professional engineering supervision and guidance. 

For documentation requirements, see REQUIRED DOCUMENTS.  

GS-7:  A) Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). This can be defined by one of the following: 

1) Class standing—Upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the "School of Engineering and Applied Science" or "College of Science and Technology" based on completed courses.

2) Grade point average (GPA) as recorded on the final transcript—

    i) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 (“B” or better) as recorded on the 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

    ii) 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. The GPA is rounded to one decimal place. (2.95 = 3.0 and 2.94 = 2.9).  The final transcript must cover the period being used to determine the GPA.

3) Honor Society membership--Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.  Click here for a list of qualified honor societies.

B) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying basic engineering and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc.

OR

C) Have at least one year of graduate level education from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements.  If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study.

OR

D) Have less than the full amount of graduate education as described in “C” above and less than the amount of experience described in “B” above, but have a combination “B” and “C” above.

GS-9:   A) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying intermediate engineering and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc.

OR

B) Have at least two years of graduate level education leading to a master’s degree or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements.  If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study.

OR

C) Have less than the full amount of graduate education as described in “B” above and less than the amount of experience described in “A” above, but have a combination of “A” and “B” above.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: 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 in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).  You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered.  Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Applicants applying for this position must be a United States Citizen. 

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.

This is a Bargaining Unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of “moderate”.

Financial Disclosure:  You may be required to file a confidential Financial Disclosure Report to avoid involvement in a real or apparent conflict of interest. 

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

Probationary Period- If selected, you may be required to complete an initial one-year probationary period.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating of 85 out of 100.  Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management’s Career Transition Resources website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/

CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.  If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act.  Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).

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You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume, optional cover letter, and supporting documentation will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the job opportunity announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the self-assessment questions (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) and place you in one of three pre-defined categories.  These categories are “gold,” “silver,” and “bronze.” Your resume and/or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the “gold” category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility:

Veterans’ Preference is applied by listing preference eligibles ahead of non-preference eligibles within the same quality category in which they are placed.  Qualified preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be placed at the top of the highest quality category (Best Qualified), except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher.  A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Qualified) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category.

The scored self-assessment questions in the job announcement will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:

• Ability to analyze and interpret written technical materials, rules, regulations, instructions, and reports.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective public relations with diverse groups.

• Skill in oral communications in order to make clear and convincing oral presentations.

• Ability to produce well-written information for technical material.

For more information on category rating, please go to: http://hr.commerce.gov/s/groups/public/@doc/@cfoasa/@ohrm/documents/content/prod01_009474.pdf

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).

To preview questions please click here.

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Drug test required No