Civil Engineer

This is a Merit Promotion announcement for career and career conditional Bureau of Reclamation employees Career Transition eligibles (CTAP) and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above. Refer to the required documents section for more information.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as Regional Design technical expert in the Technical Services Group with responsibility for design of civil structures and features of construction projects such as water conveyance systems water and sewer systems pumping plants powerplants irrigation systems multipurpose dams and recreation facilities.
• Prepares civil designs and technical specifications/drawings corresponding for assigned project(s). Prepares layouts and final designs for the construction/rehabilitation of roads and highways dams spillways etc. including structures of timber steel concrete and prestressed concrete; and canal lateral and drainage systems and appurtenant structures; based upon data submitted by field offices or gathered during site visits.
• Reviews civil portions of engineering designs prepared by others including architect-engineer (A/E) firms and/or Area Offices for the above and similar type systems and facilities. Checks for proper interpretations and application of criteria to ensure that design drawings and analyses of design are accurate and that conclusions and assumptions are sound. Notes deficiencies and discrepancies and prepares comments and recommendations for the correction of designs by others.
• Serves as the Regional Design expert which includes seeking scheduling and tracking the workload for TSG Engineering Design. Assigns work to design group team members which can include Civil Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineering Technicians; tracks the progress of these work assignments and ensures deadlines are met. Serves as a Technical Expert or team member on complex design projects.
• Makes field trips to project sites to review project scope with customer and gather design data pertinent to site conditions. Provides technical advice and assistance to Area Offices concerning development of engineering plans and collection of design data.

• Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born aftermust be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more visit possess and maintain a valid drivers license throughout employment.
• Must have a current Professional Engineering License.
• You cannot hold an active real estate license nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest meet the organization goals and mission of the agency and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the determining if your employment advances the public interest the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies in writing that the individuals employment should continue and that their appointment should be the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public interest.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 08/26/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300 Subpart F.

For current Federal employees if hours worked per week are not included on your resume you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees your resume must state either full-time (or 40 hours a week) or part-time with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

Selective Placement Factors: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. If you do not provide evidence that you possess the following selective factor(s) you will be rated not qualified.
Professional Engineering License
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Individual Occupational Requirement: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position you must meet at least one of the following:
A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable the program must: (1) lead to a bachelors 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.
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B. 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:
1. Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI) Engineer in Training (EIT) 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 Boards eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
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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.
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3. 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.
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4. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelors 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 bachelors 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.)
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To qualify for the GS-13 you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

• Technical expertise shall have been acquired through graduation from a bachelors degree program in engineering with a professional engineering registration supplemented by several years experience with the design of complex civil engineering projects. This experience will require exposure to the following phases of an engineering project: Project initiation project planning project implementation project closeout and responsibility for review of engineering designs drawings and specifications.