Duties

Summary

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Electric Program provides capital and leadership to maintain, upgrade and modernize America's vast rural electric infrastructure. This position is located in the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Electric Program, Office of Loan Origination & Approval (OLOA). This is a Pathways Recent Graduate position.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Conducts reviews and analyses of the design, construction standards, and policies related to electric distribution, transmission, generation facilities that serve the rural areas within America.
• Reviews, evaluates and submits recommendations to senior engineers on the technical merits, cost estimates and system effectiveness of the electric facilities proposed to be upgraded, purchased or built by Electric Program borrowers.
• Participates on loan processing teams that perform engineering evaluations and provide advice and assistance to eligible borrowers, engineering consultants, and others.
• Researches RUS regulations and procedures pertaining to the engineering design, construction, operation and maintenance of electrical and mechanical facilities.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a US Citizen at the time of Non-Competitive conversion to a career conditional appointment
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt
• Satisfactory Background investigation and/or fingerprint check
• Participants will serve a trial period for the duration of the excepted service appointment
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/

Qualifications

To be eligible, applicants must meet one of the following requirements;

Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two (2) years; or

Individuals who, due to military service obligation, were precluded from applying to the Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period described above shall have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. This eligibility period cannot extend more than 6 years from the date on which the requirements for the academic course of study were met.

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a 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: 1. Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT) 1, 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) 2 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. 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 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. 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, maybe 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.)

In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements above, applicants must possess the experience requirements as follows:

For the GS-7 level: Applicants must possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 level; or its non-Federal equivalent that demonstrates: Experience with regular oversight and assistance from senior level engineer or supervisor to conduct reviews and analyses of the design, construction standards, and policies related to electric distribution, transmission, generation facilities that serve the rural areas within America. Experience in reviewing, evaluating and submitting recommendations to senior engineers on the technical merits, cost estimates and system effectiveness of the electric facilities proposed to be upgraded, purchased or built by Electric Program borrowers OR Superior Academic Achievement. OR Bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) for two-grade interval positions OR Completion of one full academic year of graduate education OR completed a 5-year program of study of at least 160 semester hours leading to a Bachelor of Engineering or higher degree OR degree in Engineering and experience as a Technician equivalent to grade GS-5 or higher that may be creditable towards 1 year of experience. Equivalent combination of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

For the GS-9 level: Applicants must possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 level; or its non-Federal equivalent that demonstrates:Experience with occasional or little oversight from senior level engineer or supervisor in conducting reviews and analyses of the design, construction standards, and policies related to electric distribution, transmission, generation facilities that serve the rural areas within America. Experience in reviewing, evaluating and submitting recommendations to senior engineers on the technical merits, cost estimates and system effectiveness of the electric facilities proposed to be upgraded, purchased or built by Electric Program borrowers. Experience in ensuring recommendations are consistent with the Electric Programs' regulations, policies and procedures and prudent utility and sound engineering practices OR 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. Equivalent combination of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

NOTE: To be considered for this position, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the GS-0850 series set forth in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards by the closing date of the announcement. A copy is available at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Recent Graduate appointments are intended to last for 1 year. Recent Graduates who satisfactorily complete all the USDA Recent Graduates Program requirements may be non-competitively converted to a Term or Permanent appointment in the competitive service. Conversion is not guaranteed. Recent Graduates converted to Term appointments may later be non-competitively converted to a Permanent competitive service position.

Upon successful completion of the Recent Graduate Program requirements in accordance with 5 CFR 362.205 (qualifications, one year continuous work experience, satisfactory performance, mandatory training completion, etc.) you may be non-competitively converted to a term, career­ conditional or career appointment within 120 days to an:

Electrical Engineer, GS-0850-07/09/11/12/13 career ladder position. The full performance level (FPL) of the position to which converted may be up to the GS-13 level.

NOTE: An agency is not required to convert any individual in a Pathways position, to a position in the competitive service, whether upon completion of degree requirements or otherwise. Conversion to a competitive service position is not an entitlement.

Superior Academic Achievement is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.1. Class standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on completed courses.2. Grade-point average - Applicants must have a grade-point average of: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed bases on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final two years of the curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 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.3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

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

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Those determined to be in the best qualified category will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10879877

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process

Required Documents

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

• Resume that includes:1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) other qualifications.
• You must submit a copy of your college transcripts.An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
• If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions.If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted.Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment.Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.
• If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FEDSHIREVETS .