General Engineer - DIRECT HIRE - SME

Summary

The Volpe Center seeks to hire a General Engineer to serve as a technical lead performing engineering work with a focus on chemistry. This position will oversee and advance cutting-edge analytical methods for detecting driver/operator impairment within specialized testing facilities, such as the Center's Alcohol Countermeasures Lab. The engineer will lead multi-faceted testing protocols and integrate advanced chemical principles into transportation safety programs.

Duties

• As a General Engineer, you will: Apply technologies and develops and assesses their impact on programs for upgrading the performance ( e.g. safety, capacity, efficiency, emissions, and resiliency) of a variety of transportation products, infrastructure, fuels, operations, and systems. Evaluates innovative devices, sensing technologies, and analytical methods for detecting driver/operator impairment within specialized testing facilities such as the Center's Alcohol Countermeasures Lab. Provides expert technical advice, guidance, and recommendations to management and other technical specialists and customers on complex technical issues. Coordinates life-cycle projects, including developing project plans; managing project scope and deliverables; monitoring work done by members of project team; scheduling; budgeting; quality assurance and monitoring progress; and, reporting project progress and results to customers, and internal and external stakeholders. The ideal candidate is a seasoned technical leader who seamlessly blends specialized chemistry expertise with robust, full life-cycle project management. The candidate brings a strong background in applying advanced principles of chemistry to driver and operator impairment detection, along with a proven track record of driving complex engineering initiatives from concept to completion.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the mandatory education and specialized experience requirements. To qualify for the Grade 13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include: Experience leading technical and engineering projects, leveraging advanced chemical principles to oversee testing, analysis, and execution. AND Experience coordinating life-cycle projects, including developing plans, managing scope, and monitoring team deliverable. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. Technical: Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of engineering and their practical applications. Project Management: Knowledge of the principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing projects and resources, including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, and contractor performance. For all types of consideration, 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. For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4 All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Requirements

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. 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. SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service. PROBATIONARY PERIOD:P If selected, a one-year or two-year probationary period may be required. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You may be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding. GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only. DRUG TESTING: Not required FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of appointment and annually thereafter.

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: A. 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. 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 Board's 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) 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 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). All applicants must meet the education requirements under A or B to qualify for applying to an engineering position. Transcripts are required for this position.

How to apply

You must submit a complete application package (including resume, vacancy questions and supporting documents) no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. To begin, click the "Apply Online" button on the job announcement posting. Follow the directions to register, submit all required documents and complete the assessment questionnaire. You may review your saved application(s) at https://help.usajobs.gov/ If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at: [email protected]