Summary
This position is part of the Idaho Operations Office. This Program is a dynamic, one-year developmental program that promotes careers in the Federal Government to recent graduates. Participants in the Program receive training and professional development, complete an Individual Development Plan (IDP), and are assigned a mentor. Recent Graduates who successfully complete Program requirements may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a term or permanent position in the civil service.
Duties
The following are the duties of this position at the GS-14. Since you are being selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties and will receive training to help you grow in this position.
As a General Engineer or Physical Scientist, you will:
- Provides management, oversight, and technical input and advice in specific areas pertinent to engineering/technical scope of assigned research and development (R&D) programs and projects.
- Serves as project/program manager for energy R&D projects. Ensures effective execution of assigned projects.
- Oversees detailed technical activities such as formal design reviews, technical reviews, and prioritizations of R&D efforts and will make recommendations to the team lead and DOE management on issues such as safety margins, technical feasibility, technical maturity of designs and concepts, and the balancing of R&D portfolios.
- Serves as an expert advisor and provides leadership for extensive DOE scientific and engineering efforts. Plans, organizes and manages programs/projects that are broad in scope and that lack scientific and/or engineering precedents for critical phases of the project required for accomplishment of vital DOE missions and goals.
- Formulates scientific and engineering efforts in achieving new and innovative capabilities relative to new or expanded, safer, or more efficient use of energy resources, environmental cleanup or development of new technologies and the impacts of energy production on society or the national economy.
Full-Time
Qualifications
**Please note these series do have Basic Education Requirements that MUST be met. These are listed in the Education portion of the vacancy announcement. There is one for the 0801 series and one for the 1301 series.**
You must meet the eligibility and qualifications within 7 months of the closing date of this announcement.
To be eligible for the Pathways Recent Graduate program you must be a:
Recent graduate who has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program that awards a recognized postsecondary credential (such as a Registered Apprenticeship Program or Job Corps).
-OR-
Student who within 7 months of the closing date of this announcement will meet the education requirements and will graduate with a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program. A student may not be appointed to a position until they have graduated.
-OR-
Preference eligible veterans who have been precluded from applying due to their military service obligation begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion. You MUST submit a copy of the DD214 showing the duration and dates of service that precluded you from applying due to the military service obligation.
For the GS-07: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-7 includes:
Assisting in identifying issues in engineering or scientific projects.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON EDUCATION: Completion of 1 full academic year of graduate level education. (An academic year of graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study, if not defined by school, then (18 semester or 27 quarter hours will be used.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement is defined as:(1) Class standing -- You 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 (G.P.A.) -- You must have 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 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, or(3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- You are a member of one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achshonor.org/). The Bachelor degree must still show the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform in this position.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON A COMBINATION OF EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent.
For the GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-9 includes:
Assisting in identifying and resolving issues which could have an impact on engineering or scientific projects.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position. OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON COMBINATION: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.
Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to OPM Instructions.
Education
You must meet the Basic Education Requirement listed below in order to qualify for the 0801 series:
Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:
(1) lead to a bachelor's 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 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:
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.
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.
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.
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 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.)
You must meet the Basic Education Requirement listed below in order to qualify for the 1301 series:
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
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.
What constitutes a valid certificate program: The Pathways Programs regulation (see 5 CFR 362.102) defines certificate program as post-secondary education at either:
A qualifying educational institution (trade or vocational school, 2-year or 4-year college or university, or graduate or professional school) equivalent to at least one academic year of full-time study that is part of an accredited college-level, technical, trade, vocational, or business school curriculum.; OR
A qualifying career or technical education program of at least one year that awards a recognized postsecondary credential.
What types of programs would meet the eligibility criteria for a qualifying career or technical education program?
Three types of programs meet these criteria:
Federally administered educational programs that provide rigorous academic content, technical skill proficiency, and a recognized postsecondary credential to prepare the individual for further education and/or a career in a current or emerging profession.;
Registered Apprenticeship Programs; and
Federally administered local, state, national, or international volunteer service programs.
What is a Federally administered career or technical education program?
A Federally administered career or technical education program is subject to programmatic oversight by a federal agency that includes:
The nature and scope of work to be performed by participants,
The type(s) and scope of training to be provided to participants,
The types of skills participants will acquire or develop during the program (e.g., teaching, environmental, business, scientific, public health/health care, languages),
The level and extent of mentoring participants will receive, and
The metrics for successful completion of the program.
Programmatic oversight may be reflected in partnership or cooperative agreements.
Department of Energy (Washington, DC)
