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Mechanical Engineer - 681451400

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a U.S. citizen
  • Tour of Duty: Flexible
  • Security Requirements: Non Critical Sensitive
  • Appointment is subject to the completion of a favorable suitability or fitness determination, where reciprocity cannot be applied; unfavorably adjudicated background checks will be grounds for removal.
  • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Non-Exempt (GS-07/09/11); Exempt (GS-12)Selective Service Requirement: Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service.
  • Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
  • Bargaining Unit Status: Yes
  • Pre-Employment Physical: Not Required


Qualifications

To qualify for a Mechanical Engineer, your resume must support:

A. Basic Requirement

1. Degree: Professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must be: (1) 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
2. 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. 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. 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.
b. 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, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Applicants who have passed the EIT examination and have completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college or university that included 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) may be rated eligible for certain engineering positions at GS-5. Eligibility is limited to positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of the engineering technology program. Applicants for positions that involve highly technical research, development, or similar functions requiring an advanced level of competence in basic science must meet the basic requirements in paragraph 1. Because of the diversity in kind and quality of BET programs, graduates of other BET programs are required to complete at least 1 year of additional education or highly technical work experience of such nature as to provide reasonable assurance of the possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for professional engineering competence. The adequacy of this background must be demonstrated by passing the EIT examination.
c. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included 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.
d. 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 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.)

B. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of this position. To qualify at the GS-07 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience must be equivalent to the GS-05 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. To qualify at the GS-09 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience must be equivalent to the GS-07 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. . To qualify at the GS-11 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience must be equivalent to the GS-09 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. . To qualify at the GS-12 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience must be equivalent to the GS-11 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including time-in-grade (General Schedule (GS) positions only), time-after-competitive appointment, minimum qualifications, and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Creditable specialized experience includes:
GS-07
  • Collecting technical information
  • Assisting higher graded engineers in evaluating engineering drawings, blueprints and specifications
  • Assisting in a portion of a larger mechanical engineering project
GS-09
  • Analyze technical engineering problems
  • Perform and execute specific portions of engineering projects
  • Conduct studies and analyses of specific issues or specialty areas within the mechanical engineering discipline
  • Assist in the research of engineering issues on a wide variety of mechanical items.
GS-11:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of mechanical engineering concepts, principles and practices.
  • Demonstrate the ability to analyze and study engineering and technical performance requirements for reliability, maintainability
  • Demonstrate the ability to analyze and review test requirements.
  • Experience involving the design, development, operation, maintenance, and disposal of mechanical devices and systems and their equipment and/or components;
  • Experience analyzing material properties to ensure that mechanical devices and systems and their equipment and/or components function safely, reliably, efficiently, and economically
  • Analyzing and evaluating engineering change proposals.

Education

(Creditable Specialized Exp Continued:)
GS-12:
  • Serve as project manager on engineering / value management documentation projects
  • Performing extensive design, manufacturing analysis.
  • Direct experience with test and evaluation of a variety of mechanical components.
  • Applies knowledge of the concepts and practices associated with all aspects of the technical design and development process utilizing drawings of mechanical components.
  • Applies the scientific principles, theories, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry, including collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and reporting of results.
  • Applies an understanding of the principles, methods, and tools of quality assurance, quality control, process improvement, and reliability used to ensure that a mechanical component, project, or system meets technical requirements and standards.

C. Education Substitution: Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Education must be from a college or university accredited by an organization approved by the U.S. Department of Education. See http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx. If using education to meet basic qualifications, YOU MUST SUBMIT A TRANSCRIPT as supplemental documentation. To qualify based on education in lieu of specialized experience, you must possess:

GS-07: One year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Such education must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position being filled.
GS-09: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. Such education must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position being filled.
GS-11: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Such education must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position being filled.
GS-12: Education cannot be substituted for specialized experience at this grade level.

D. Combination: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for grade levels GS-07/ GS-09 and GS-11 and may be computed by first determining the applicants total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-07, GS-09 and GS-11.

E. Additional Experience and Training Provisions for Graduates of Engineering Programs: a) Superior academic achievement at the baccalaureate level in an engineering program is qualifying for GS-7; b) A combination of superior academic achievement and 1 year of appropriate professional experience is qualifying at GS-9; c) Applicants with an engineering bachelor's degree who have appropriate experience as a technician equivalent to grade GS-5 or higher may have such experience credited for grade GS-7 only on a month-for-month basis up to a maximum of 12 months; d) Successful completion of a 5-year program of study of at least 160 semester hours leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering is qualifying at GS-7. Completion of such a program and 1 year of appropriate professional experience is qualifying at grade GS-9.


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.
Substitution of education may not be used in lieu of specialized experience for this grade level.


You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at time of application.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.


Fair & Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.