Civil Engineer (Highway Design) – DIRECT HIRE

Summary Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has Civil Engineer (Design) positions available in the Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) in Vancouver, Washington.

Projects occur primarily on Federal Lands managed by other Federal agencies (e.g., National Park Service & U.S.

Forest Service) & include multi-state areas.

This establishes an open continuous, NTE 6 months, Direct Hire vacancy announcement for Civil Engineer (Highway Design).

Applications will be reviewed on an as needed basis.

Responsibilities As a Civil Engineer (Highway-Design), you will: Develop the design and monitor the budget and schedule for assigned projects and have responsibility for the project from initial scoping through construction support.

Manage workload by setting and adjusting short-term priorities, as required, to meet changing project needs and information.

Generate and evaluate geometric design alternatives and develop sound design concepts.

Assess the impact of standard exceptions/compromises to established engineering principles and practices and conceptualize acceptable design exceptions and mitigation strategies, as necessary, to meet customer needs.

Develop plans, specifications, and estimates (PS&E) packages that clearly define the work, are biddable, and emphasize context sensitivity, safety, and constructability.

Identify appropriate bid items, perform quantity computations for all facets of highway design, and develop summary tables for project plans and price estimates for all work items for assigned projects.

Prepare appropriate design documentation, provide quality control reviews on PS&Es prepared by other designers.

Interpret, apply, and communicate the laws, regulations, policies and guidance related to highway design.

Assist in the development of plans for accomplishing business objectives and implementing quality initiatives, including assisting in the formulation and establishment of policies, standards, guidelines, and priorities for team operations.

Identify, recommend, and/or use appropriate technologies for gathering data during PS&E development.

Improve the quality of highway design work through the use of new technologies and process improvements.

Collaborate with internal staff and outside agencies.

Ensure financial accountability and management of funds for assigned projects.Review and update project work steps, resources, and budget as required.

Projects involve critical engineering constraints, strong public interest, environmental or other constraints, and many specialty design items and/or critical time frames.

The employee applies technical expertise in highway design to address context-sensitivity, sustainability, and livability issues, including safety, economics, environmental issues, and impacts to local landowners.

At the senior level, mentors, trains, and assists in the distribution of project work tasks to other designers on the team and assists in quality control on design work products.

The ideal candidateis a mid-career design engineer with experience working both independently and with multidiscipline teams in developing, monitoring, and adhering to the design, budget, and schedule for assigned roadway construction projects, providing technical assistance from initial scoping through construction support, and addressing design engineering issues with a wide range of external contacts.

RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE MAY BE OFFERED TO SELECTEE(S) OF THIS POSITION Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S.

citizen and eligible for consideration.

Applicable documents are required for the Mandatory Education requirements.

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.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.

If recruitment incentive is offered, selectee will be required to sign a service agreement.

Qualifications To meet the basic qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the Mandatory Education Requirement for the series, AND (2) provide a copy of your transcripts or other applicable documentation for verification.

The selecting official will review your application for (3) the specialized experience requirements for each grade.

Please review the following information before proceeding with the application process: (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: Professional registration or licensure
– current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE).

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.

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.

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 additional information, please refer to the OPM qualifications standard for GS-800: All Professional Engineering Positions qualifications at:pm.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.

Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of the closing date of this announcement.

If selected, the final transcript must be received before your start date.

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

(3) Specialized Experience: To determine which grade(s) you may be eligible for, review the following grade specific details.

You will be asked a few questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet this experience in your resume.

For theGS-11: OnExperience,you must have at least one year of experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level,which included: Experience providing engineering design services, on a team, in the development of highway improvement projects to reconstruct or rehabilitate highways or local roads (e.g., developing Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) packages and layout drawings for highway designs); AND Experience using highway-design software programs, including Computer-Aided Design (CADD) software and engineer’s estimating software.

Or onEducation,you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D.

degree OR Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree.

You can also have acombinationof graduate education and experience.

This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

For theGS-12: OnExperience,you must have at least one year of experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level,which included: Experience providing engineering design services, construction support, and technical assistance in the development of highway improvement projects (e.g., developing Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) packages and layout drawings for projects involving interstate, primary, urban, or Federal Lands’ roads and highways; reviewing contractor submittals; resolving construction issues; or addressing exceptions to design standards); AND Experience using highway-design software programs, including Computer-Aided Design (CADD) software and engineer’s estimating software.

You cannot substitute education at this level, you must have experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs):