Help Help Duties Major duties include but are not limited to: - Assist senior staff members in planning, engineering management, operation, and overall coordination of projects. - Coordinate project work requirements with other technical and administrative elements within the agency. - Provide engineering services associated with job order contracting and construction, including tenant requirements, scope of work, design criteria, and time/cost estimates. - Provide engineering technical services to ensure timely performance of a satisfactory amount and quality of work in an efficient manner to meet the healthcare mission. - Review work requests for feasibility, compliance, and impact of planned operation and maintenance of the installation. - Inspect, review, and analyze a variety of issues for deficiencies and/or performance issues. - Develop statistical data to provide management with customer support trends. - Review and check technical aspects such as drawings, specifications, quantities, costs, accuracy, completeness, and conformity with requirements for planned projects. - Prepare and maintain engineering-related drawings and plans according to established guidelines. - Utilize highly specialized Computer-Aided Design (CAD) graphic programs. - Participate in group meetings with stakeholders to discuss complex engineering projects. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm, with occasional off-hours. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Engineering Technician / PD90471A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Bargaining Unit Position: Yes - AFGE Help Help Requirements Conditions of Employment - You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job - Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 - You may be required to serve a probationary period - Subject to background/security investigation - Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process - Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/03/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirement: This series covers technical positions supervising, leading, or performing work involving applying a practical knowledge of the: - methods and techniques of engineering or architecture; and - construction, application, properties, operations, and limitations of engineering systems, processes, structures, machinery, devices, and materials. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include technical work in: drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems. Experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work provided intensive knowledge of engineering principles, techniques, methods, and precedents. Examples are trade positions with substantial developmental, test, or design responsibilities such as: - Planner and estimator who analyzed designs for production purposes. - Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated. Certification: Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements for GS-09: You must qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: - Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-08) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include what is stated above as the individual occupational requirement, but also includes and is not limited to: providing engineering services associated with job order contracting and construction to include evaluating tenant's requirements; establishing scope of work and design criteria; completing estimates of design time and costs; providing technical assistance to support contract administration; preparing/coordinating design packages for facility renovations, repairs, and alterations; reviewing and checking technical aspects such as drawings, specifications, quantities, costs, accuracy, completeness, and conformity with requirements for planned projects where precedence has been established; and participating in the preparation of procurement packages to ensure correct content and format of technical data. OR, - Education: As a general rule, education is not creditable; however, two full years of graduate education or a master's degree may be substituted only if the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position. OR, - Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience are also qualifying, but only when coursework is directly related to the position. Only education beyond one full year of graduate education will be credited when combining education and experience. (Please see the Education section of this announcement for additional information on substituting education for experience.) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: - Customer Service - Design - General Engineering 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; religions; 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. Note : A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work involved moderate physical demands in terms of inspections, investigations, and surveys of facilities. There is commonly some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, walking, stooping, bending, and climbing. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ . Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts must be legible and contain sufficient information (e.g., student name, name of institution, total number of credits completed, etc.) to show you meet the requirements as specified in the announcement. To receive credit for your education when a master's degree has not been achieved, your transcripts must show evidence of progress through a set curriculum, i.e., it is part of a program leading to a master's or higher degree and not education consisting of undergraduate and/or continuing education courses that do not lead to an advanced degree. Examples of qualifying courses of study include: Master's in Engineering (e.g., Structural, Civil, Construction, Architectural, Electrical, etc.); Construction Engineering Management; Building Information Modelling; Construction Science and Management; or related degrees with coursework such as drafting, surveying, engineering mathematics, physical science, industrial technology, industrial arts, technical subjects pertinent to construction or engineering technician work, statistics, calculus, statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, electrical fields and circuits, fluid mechanics, hydraulics, etc. An academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study. This determination is made based on normal course loads for a full year of study in the graduate program. If that information cannot be obtained from your transcript or other official documentation, 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. When academic credit is expressed in contract months, units, or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the appropriate institution in order to equate them to the semester or quarter hours specified in the standard. To credit combinations of education and experience, HR staff will first determine the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level. Next, HR staff determine the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Finally, HR staff will add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example: - An applicant has 6 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-8 and 1 year of graduate level education. The applicant meets 50 percent of the required experience but none of the required education, since he or she does not have any graduate study beyond one full year of graduate level education. Therefore, the applicant meets only 50 percent of the total requirement and is not qualified for the position. (The applicant's first year of graduate study is not qualifying for GS-9.) Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html . Additional information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities, and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ . This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application . Read more - Benefits Help Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits . Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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