Duties

Summary

This position is in the U.S. DOT/PHMSA, Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), Engineering and Research Division. If selected, you will serve as a Senior General Engineer/Physical Scientist within the Office of Pipeline Safety on all technical aspects of liquid and gas pipeline, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) safety regulatory initiatives.

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Responsibilities

The Interdisciplinary General Engineer/Physical Scientist:

• Serve as the Senior General Engineer reviewing innovative research projects relating to pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) safety systems for the Pipeline Safety Research Program (PSRP).
• Analyze the technical merits of the research and development (R&D) proposals submitted for funding, lead the evaluations of the proposals, and recommend the research projects to award.
• Provide support in contracting and contracts management on developing the research solicitations and award agreements.
• Manage the implementation of the research projects assigned including monitoring the progress on the deliverables. These include the ability to identify potential problems and/or issues with a view to propose possible solutions, as well as reviewing progress reports, annual reports, and any additional reports requested.
• Serve as the project leader or subject matter expert Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and/or an Agreement Officer Representative (AOR), for large and complex, multi-year projects.
• Provides professional and subject matter expertise in preparing project-level input and budgetary oversight to multi-disciplinary pipeline safety R&D programs.
• Serve as an advisor and subject matter expert on the PSRP, assists the Division in maintaining internal and external communication through Internet based publications, town-hall technology briefings, and public notification of program/project status.
• Utilizes their technical and professional knowledge in pipeline and LNG safety applied research, including construction, operations, maintenance, and procedures in the areas of engineering analysis leading to the generation of commercialized technologies and knowledge.

This position is perfect for an experienced engineer who is looking for challenging assignments managing pipeline research and development (R&D) projects. The ideal candidate will also serve as PHMSA's Office of Pipeline Safety subject matter expert (SME) on R&D projects. As a General Engineer within PHMSA's Engineering and Research Division, you will assist in all technical aspects of R&D projects and programs. You will manage investigative research to identify and test technology-based processes and activities to better anticipate and prevent safety and environmental problems; analyze data to pinpoint safety issues, and research and make recommendations on programmatic solutions.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Some travel will be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Must complete a 1-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications

This is an interdisciplinary position, which means that the duties and responsibilities of the position relate to both the General Engineer (0801) and Physical Scientist (1301) fields. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this position, a person with the education and experience in either the 0801 or the 1301 field may be considered equally well qualified to do the work. All applicants must meet the education and experience requirements of at least one of the series AND the specialized experience of this vacancy in order to qualify.

TO QUALIFY FOR THE GS-14, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-13, which includes following:

• Experience leading and coordinating research, analyses and technical information needed to improve the safety of pipeline transportation and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
• Experience conducting research and analysis projects to support an organization's rulemaking, human factors, risk assessments and trend analysis for field enforcement activity related to the transportation of hazardous materials.
• Experience in engineering or physical science concerning the design, evaluations, analyses, research, and development to reducing the risk management, identifying and evaluating new technologies to facilitate the safe, secure, and efficient transportation of hazardous materials.
• Experience analyzing technical merits of the research and development (R&D) proposals, evaluations of the proposals, recommending the research projects to award, and identifying potential problems and propose possible solutions and reviewing progress and annual reports.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

• Leveraging Diversity: Fosters an inclusive workplace where diversity and individual differences are valued and leveraged to achieve the vision and mission of the organization
• Performance Management: Knowledge of the principles and methods for evaluating program or organizational performance using financial and non-financial measures, including identification of evaluation factors (for example, workload, personnel requirements), metrics, and outcomes.
• Planning and Evaluating: Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short - or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.
• Research: Knowledge of the scientific principles, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry; including study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and the reporting of results.
• Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

For all types of consideration, 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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

In addition to the specialized experience requirements, applicants must fully meet the basic qualifications criteria of at least one of the following series.

TO QUALIFY FOR THE 0801 series, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

All applicants must meet one of the following requirements to qualify for consideration for an engineering position:

(1) All applicants must meet the education requirements under A or B to qualify for applying to an engineering position.

A. Successful completion of a degree in engineering that: (1) has at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); or (2) that included differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced that first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials; (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials; 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 or training: college level education, training and/or technical experience that has 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), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE).
2. 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.
3. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences which included the courses as specified in Paragraph A above.
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, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. There should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering type experience. This must be clearly described in your resume.

For more specifics, please see the OPM qualifications standard for GS-800: All Professional Engineering Positions qualifications at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf

(2) Upload the appropriate document(s) to your application for verification purposes. All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

(3) Qualifications: You will be asked questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet this experience in your resume or you may be deemed ineligible.

TO QUALIFY FOR THE 1301 SERIES, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. OR

B. Combination of education and experience: Education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Additional information

This vacancy may be used by any DOT agency to fill similar positions within 90 days.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the educational and specialized experience requirements.

Applicants will not be rated or ranked. Veteran's Preference does NOT apply.

All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated by a resume. If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration.

Ultimately, the Automated Staffing Office is responsible for determining an applicant's eligibility. Please ensure that your resume provide enough detail to support your answers to the Vacancy Specific Questions.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

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

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

A USAJobs built resume is required to apply

ALL Applicants must provide a resume that fully supports the required specialized experience and was created within USA Jobs Resume Builder and respond to the vacancy questions by the closing date of the vacancy. Formatted resumes can be uploaded when you arrive at the DOT application system. For assistance with the resume builder, please visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/

The following is a list of documents that are only required based on the type of position and consideration for which you are applying.

RESUME - Needs to be created within USA Jobs Resume Builder. It must show relevant experience, education and fully support the required specialized experience.

TRANSCRIPTS - Transcripts are REQUIRED as there is a stated education requirement for the series. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

• If you are applying to an engineering position and are qualifying based on possessing a current Professional Engineer (PE) license, or passing the Engineer in Training (EIT) exam, please provide a copy of PE license or written documented proof of passing the EIT.
• If you have previously held a government position in the same series as this position, you may be able to provide an SF-50 showing that you have already qualified and worked in the federal service in this series.

NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

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.