Summary About the Position: Serve as a risk management technical specialist in civil engineering or geology with primary responsibility for risk assessments and modifications of dams and levees, including hydropower dams and appurtenant structures, within the USACE portfolio, and technical specialist/Technical Lead (TL) for Portland District advanced risk assessments, dam safety modification studies, and risk-informed design for dam and levee projects. Responsibilities Provide civil engineering and/or geology expertise, especially as those fields apply to risk management and risk assessments with particular emphasis on seismic risk. Serve as risk management technical specialist for Portland District advanced risk assessments, issue evaluation studies, dam safety modification studies, and risk-informed design for dam and levee projects. Serve as technical Lead and provide technical management of risk assessment studies including Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessments, issues Evaluation Studies, and Dam Safety Modification Studies. Maintain awareness of best practices and keep current with the latest advances in risk management processes and seismic evaluation of dams and levees which may impact engineering features of studies/projects. Serve as a risk assessment and risk management technical resource for the District, Division, and national Dam and Levee Safety Programs. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service. Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Selective Placement Factor: This position requires you to have and maintain a Professional Engineering (PE) License or Professional Geologist Registration. Basic Requirement for Civil Engineering: A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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), 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, or 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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program. 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 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. Basic Requirement for Geology: A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in geology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological science, structural, chemical, civil, mining or petroleum engineering, computer science, planetary geology, comparative planetology, geophysics, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, physical geography, marine geology, and cartography. OR B. Combination of Education and Experience: Course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. (Note: Acceptable experience may have been gained through geological field or laboratory work that provided a means of obtaining professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of geology and closely related sciences, e.g., geophysics, geochemistry, or hydrology. Such work generally must have involved making close observations, taking samples, handling various types of instruments and equipment, assembling geologic data from source materials, and analyzing and reporting findings orally and in writing. In some situations, professional scientific experience in other fields may be accepted in part as professional geological experience. Such experience must have been preceded by appropriate education in geology or by professional geological experience, and must have contributed directly and significantly to the applicant's professional geological competence. To receive credit for geological experience obtained in positions that are not full-time professional geological positions, the applicant is responsible for indicating clearly the actual time or percentage of time devoted to geologic duties within such positions, and for giving adequate descriptions of the geologic functions.) In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: Specialized Experience (GS-12): One year of specialized experience which includes 1.) preparing risk management plans and risk assessment studies; 2.) evaluating risk assessment studies to provide input on technical presentations and situational reports; and 3.) participating in risk evaluation studies. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11). Specialized Experience (GS-13): One year of specialized experience which includes 1.) conducting risk assessment evaluations and studies to evaluate risk and risk reduction alternatives; 2.) planning risk communication efforts and activities for dams and levees or similar infrastructures; and 3.) collaborating with multidisciplinary teams on risk assessments, modification studies, and risk-informed designs for large civil works infrastructure projects. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12). Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted. Education FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html Additional Information Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration. You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship. One year trial/probationary period may be required. Direct Deposit of Pay is required. Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees. If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet. This is a Construction, Engineering, Infrastructure Career Field position. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement. When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction.htm for more information. Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest. Advanced-in-Hire, Advanced Leave Accrual, or Recruitment/Relocation incentive MAY be authorized if determined to be in the best interest of the government.