Engineering Technician (Petroleum)

Summary

You will serve as a Engineering Technician (Petroleum)with The Bureau of Land Management. This position is also open under Local Field Unit Hiring Authority announcement NDFO-26-13052761-FUL-MH. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods. Pay will vary based on grade level and/or duty location for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Duties

• Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Perform inspections of oil and gas operations and enforces all appropriate laws, rules, and regulations as well as the terms and conditions specified in the various approvals. Perform on-site compliance inspections for all phases of oil and gas operations, specifically: drilling and work-over, production, environmental, and plugging and abandonment. Prepare documentation after compliance inspection(s) are complete and issues Written Orders and Incidents of Non-Compliance (INC) when problems or violations are noted during inspection(s). Complete follow-up inspections to determine if compliance was met by operators and recommends further action as necessary. If required, prepare documents for evidence in legal contests. Utilize applicable government databases to document inspections and completes enforcement actions as applicable within the database. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Qualifications

Requirements Continued... 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 individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In 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. Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 09/16/2026-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. To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as performing duties such as: Applies standardized rules and procedures, requiring extended training or experience to determine and select the most efficient methods. Documents observations, recommendations, compliance, noncompliance, and occasional verbal communications, through preparation of forms and data base entries for review by supervisor or more senior technician. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education directly related to the work of this position (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 1 year course of study completed in graduate school. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as perfroming duties such as: Utilize monitoring systems for drilling fluids; Operate and maintain drilling and production equipment; Safety compliance (i.e. follow procedures, check surface casing, and check cementing operations); Work closely with engineers and other technical teams to optimize production methods. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least one year of GRADUATE education directly related to the work of this position (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 1 year course of study completed in graduate school. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-08 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as perfroming duties such as: Utilize monitoring systems for drilling fluids; Operate and maintain drilling and production equipment; Safety compliance (i.e. follow procedures, check surface casing, and check cementing operations); Work closely with engineers and other technical teams to optimize production methods. Review regulations related to the petroleum industry. You must include hours per week worked. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree; education must be directly related to the work of a petroleum engineering technician (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 2 year course of study completed in graduate school or master's degree. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. 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.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Direct Deposit participation required. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. An applicant appointed to this position must possess (or obtain within 30 days of entrance on duty) and maintain a US Government Motor Vehicle Operator's Identification Card. You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority. A financial disclosure report will be required within 30 days of appointment. You must successfully complete the BLM Petroleum Engineering Technician (PET) Certification Program and continue service in the Federal Government for 2 years from the date of obtaining certification. PET certification is required at the GS-10 and GS-11 grades and must be maintained. You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1-3 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated. This probationary or trial 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 service. In 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. *Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

Education

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the 09/16/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement to receive consideration. Note: You will only be marked eligible for those eligibilities that you selected and provided the appropriate supporting documentation. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. To PREVIEW the application questionnaire, select the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13048815 Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status, visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.