Electrical Engineer

Bureau-Wide (Bureau of Reclamation) - This is a Merit Promotion announcement for career and career conditional Bureau employees Career Transition eligibles (CTAP) Current or former time-limited employees eligible under Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above. Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

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

• Performs engineering analyses to include performing and coordinating technical planning activities; data collection (including validation and management); design; modeling and data analyses; analyses of site location and/or conditions; troubleshooting electrical equipment and systems; and risk estimation and analyses.
• Makes engineering recommendations and/or decisions based on engineering analysis for complex projects and activities with unusual or special demands.
• General descriptions of specialty area analyses: 8460 Electrical Equipment Design Engineer: Completes and/or reviews engineering designs of electrical systems to include: 1) planning and conducting engineering studies or evaluations such as preliminary appraisal feasibility final design value planning/value engineering and contractor designs; 2) creating performing reviewing checking and/or modeling engineering designs contractor submittals & transmittals including performing analytical calculations and computer-aided design and drafting; 3) developing design criteria procedures instructions and material specifications; 4) providing technical approval as the engineer in responsible charge of design activities and engineering decisions; 5) contributing to the design and modifications of new and existing complex features; 6) performing field acceptance testing; and/or 7) preparing and/or reviewing the development and adequacy of various levels of construction cost estimates for planning final design and procurement (e.g. Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCE) and contract modifications) for the construction of complex features. 8440 Power Systems and Controls Protection Systems Engineer: Work primarily involves technical electrical engineering studies including transient and sub transient reaction studies power flow studies fault studies stability studies arc flash analyses and dynamic calculations; technical studies resulting in equipment recommendations for new and existing equipment type size capacity and ratings including power transformers distribution transformers circuit breakers surge arresters cables bus protective relays disconnect switches fuses and other equipment as required; establishing and documenting protection system settings including relay event analysis coordination of protection settings with other protective devices/systems including those operated by transmission owners; and ensuring settings are in compliance with applicable electric reliability requirements (e.g. North American Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC) Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC)).
• Develops project job plans guidelines protocols and procedures that are specific to the project. May review for comment or propose draft Reclamation directives standards policies and power technical documents (e.g. Facilities Instructions Standards and Techniques (FIST) power equipment bulletins (PEB) power reliability compliance bulletins (PRCB)).
• Provides technical reviews peer reviews and/or checking of designs drawings engineering analysis and technical documents (e.g. trip reports project notes) specifications and contract correspondence ensuring documents are accurate and quality assurance processes were followed. Provides technical mentorship guidance training and advice to engineers and technicians and other internal and external stakeholders.

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• 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 Engineering (P.E.) registration is required for this position.

*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/07/2026-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.

Individual Occupational Requirements: To qualify for this position you must meet the Individual Occupational Requirements:

Basic Requirements:

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.

OR

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)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 Boards eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.

2. 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.

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.

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.)

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level:

Experience: To qualify you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: including performing electrical engineering studies involving short-circuit analysis development and coordination of protective relay settings and arc flash analyses or performing electrical engineering design including developing drawings and specifications for low- and medium-voltage power systems ranging from 480 V to 15 kV.

Volunteer Experience: 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.