Engineering Technician

This Engineering Technician position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, Durham VA Medical Center, Engineering Service. Duties include the development, control, supervision and administration for alteration and improvement and new construction projects. Requires knowledge across all project disciplines (architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, electrical systems, plumbing, civil, industrial hygiene, etc.)

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/07/2024.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-10. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-10 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to technical work in: drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems.

  Specialized experience is defined as prepare, read and interpret architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, electrical systems, plumbing, civil, and industrial hygiene plans, drawings, and specifications; use construction engineering equipment (calculators, transits, levels and squares, measuring instruments, etc.); communicate with contractors, contracting officers and management officials; prepare reports and correspondence; coordinate, inspect, supervise and administer construction activities.

  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.

An ideal candidate will possess at least a 2-year degree in a related field of the Engineering Technician position. Please submit transcripts of education with application

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Architecture
• Communications
• Design
• Project Management

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 requires long periods of sitting in one position, climbing up ladders and crawling under buildings, and sometimes being exposed to the elements.

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/.

Responsibilities:

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Prepares contract drawings and specifications for competitively bid construction and maintenance repair work at the VA Medical Center.
• Prepares detailed cost estimates for competitively bid construction projects and maintenance and repair work.
• Serves as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative on projects and inspects construction and maintenance and repair projects.
• Performs assessments in areas of maintenance and repair or remodeling to help determine the presence of asbestos.
• Reviews change order requests from contractors for accuracy and cost control and negotiates, when necessary.
• Performs field measurements and gathers engineering data.
• Reviews shop drawings and submittals from contractors during construction of new structures or renovations.
• Maintains record drawings of all Station structures and grounds utilizing AutoCad programs.
• Assists with preparation of reports pertaining to all engineering matters.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Full-time; 7:30am-4:00pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Engineering Technician/PD05413A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required