Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, Surface Forces Logistics Center, Engineering Services Division, Baltimore, MD.

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Responsibilities

This position is located at the Surface Forces Logistics Center, Engineering Services Division, Naval Architecture Marine Engineering Branch, Electrical Systems Section in Baltimore, Maryland. The incumbent will serve as a subject matter expert for electrical equipment and systems; addressing electrical engineering issues related to the design, construction, commissioning, testing, delivery and acceptance of new surface assets and modifications to existing assets in the Coast Guard fleet. Electrical equipment and systems encompass all power generation, power distribution, power conversion, control and monitoring, lighting, and interior communication systems installed onboard Coast Guard cutters. The incumbent will have responsibility for developing and maintaining technical and design standards providing policy to support surface asset acquisition and life cycle maintenance.

Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team.
Reviews plans, specifications, and cost estimates for technical adequacy for electrical equipment and systems. Participates in the development of requirements with customers, analyzes requirements and design criteria, develops cost estimates, assures validation of requirements, and evaluates schedules and feasibility of project accomplishment. Consults with all levels of management, headquarters personnel, other federal agencies, and to foreign and commercial organizations in the design or construction of electrical systems or equipment in areas such as power generation and distribution, and propulsion control and monitoring equipment and systems. Serves as a senior engineer in coordinating and integrating the planning, programming, development, oversight, scheduling and overall management of resources for assigned projects involving electrical equipment and systems. Participates throughout all phases of design, developing and defending requirements in Electrical Systems area. Serves as a technical specialist and a key source of information for assigned areas of responsibility Identifies, investigates, and reports hardware, procedural, and documentation problems, anomalies and discrepancies, and monitors corrective actions Conducts trade-off analyzes and feasibility studies.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - 1 - 5 days per month

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• You MUST provide transcripts in order to receive consideration.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. This includes Time-In-Grade requirements for current status employees applying through merit promotion procedures. Status applicants applying for a promotion must have 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS A. Applicants must show successful completion of a professional engineering curriculum leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in engineering in an accredited college or university. To be acceptable, 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 advanced courses 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); (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 - 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 theoretical and practical understanding 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: current registration as a professional engineer 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. 2. Written Test: evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer- in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. 3. Specified Academic Courses: successful completion in an accredited college or university of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering. These must have included the courses specified in the basic requirement. 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 a degree in engineering, provided the candidate has at least one (1) year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) Candidates must provide documentation (such as transcripts) to show they meet the education requirements listed above.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

Candidates at the GS-13 level must have 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-12 level. Candidates at the GS-14 level must have 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-13 level.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Examples of specialized experience at the GS-12 level include: managing large-scale marine electrical engineering projects involving efforts such as analyzing, evaluating, developing and integrating detailed construction and installation plans required for critical electrical projects or reviewing the calculations, studies, technical documentation, specifications, and plans of others to determine whether they meet the projects stated requirement.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer 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.

Education

This position does have a positive education requirement. YOU MUST PROVIDE TRANSCRIPTS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CONSIDERATION. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here

Additional information

Applicants will be required to complete questions contained on the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) at the time a tentative job offer is made. At the time of appointment, selectees will be required to update the OF-306. Certain responses on the form could pose a problem with suitability for employment determinations.

If you are selected for this position, you will be subject to a determination of your suitability for Federal employment. All selectees are subject to an appropriate investigation as a condition of placement into this position. Certain investigation levels may automatically require a credit check after initial job qualifications have been met. For those positions that do not automatically require a credit check, it may later be required if the initial investigation surfaces a potential issue. Visit: OPM Mythbuster

DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about your rights and responsibilities at click here

Recruitment incentives may be authorized.

If selection is made below the full performance level, the incumbent may be promoted up to the target grade without further competition, if all legal and regulatory requirements are met and when recommended by the supervisor. However, promotion to the full performance level is not guaranteed and is dependent on successful performance at the lower grade level(s).

Moving expenses will not be paid.

Selectee must sign a Pathways Participant Agreement that sets forth expectations for the program.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit.

For Veterans' preference eligibility, visit Veterans' Employment Resources . Veterans , Peace Corps / VISTA volunteers , and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility and to understand the documentation that would be required with your application, click on the links above and contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

More than 1 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.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for the application and hiring process, please contact 410-636-3504. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Visit Reasonable Accommodation

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

We will review your résumé and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be referred for consideration. The following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed to perform this job:

Knowledge of and skill in applying expertise in advanced concepts, principles, standards, regulations and practices of marine electrical engineering so that the engineer is capable of applying new developments and experienced judgment to solve novel or obscure problems. Skill in providing expert advice to senior colleagues and/or agency officials Skill in analyzing designs for shipboard integrated electric propulsion, power generation and distribution equipment and systems Skill in reviewing electrical documentation and drafting written correspondence to convey technical issues, policy interpretation and engineering principles and regulations. Ability to independently plans and carries out assignments, and resolves problems. Skill in reviewing electrical documentation and drafting written correspondence to convey technical issues, risk and risk mitigation options, policy interpretation and engineering principles and regulations.

Knowledge of the concepts and principles and of the conventional methodology required within electrical engineering.

Knowledge of and general familiarity with the Coast Guard's professional practices, policies and procedures.

Ability to carry out assignments independently without specific instructions.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Q Access Authorization

Drug test required
No

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

Trust determination process
Credentialing , Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

1. Your resume
2. Your responses to the online questionnaire
3. If qualifying based on education, submit a legible copy of your unofficial college transcript from an accredited college/university. The transcript copy must reflect the college/university name and/or logo. Applicants are highly encouraged to proactively order a copy of their official transcripts to be delivered to their home address so transcripts will be readily available if selected. If selected, you will be required to provide official transcripts prior to establishing your start date. Foreign education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited institutions in the U.S. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here.
4. If you are claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), submit a copy of your agency notice, most recent performance rating and most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, noting your current position, grade level and duty location. If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not ICTAP eligible. To be considered eligible, you must be placed in the well-qualified category for this position. Please see ICTAP eligibility.
5. If you are a current active duty military member who does not have a DD214 and is claiming preference under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must submit certification from the Armed Forces indicating that you will be discharged or released under honorable conditions from active duty within 120 days from the date on the certification. Certifications must be on letterhead from the appropriate military branch and include the following information: military dates of service and expected discharge or release date, character of service, military rank, type of discharge and date when terminal leave will begin. Certifications must be signed by, or by direction of military members' military personnel offices, unit commanders or higher headquarters.
6. OPM must authorize employment offers for former or current Political Appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information. Submit proof of your former or current status, such as your SF-50. Please see here.

All documentation as outlined above must be received by the closing date of the announcement. If you are unable to submit your documents electronically, you may fax or mail the documents. A fax cover sheet will be provided to you from the system, with fax number and instructions to transmit the requested documents. The required documents will also be accepted by mail and must be received by the closing date of the announcement. The mailing address is United States Coast Guard, 2401 Hawkins Point Road, Building 1 Mailstop 4, Baltimore, MD 21226.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.