General Engineer

Summary

The position serves as a General Engineer in the Office of Airports Safety and Standards, Airports Emerging Entrants Division. Responsible for supporting various engineering functions and activities for the Office of Airports (ARP), including the integration of new and emerging entrants on airports such as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)/Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Commercial Space, and supersonic aircraft.

Duties

Plans and accomplishes highly complex and challenging projects/programs and other work activities under the minimal direction of a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced engineer. May act as a principal technical specialist or as a project/program manager or team leader for large work activities. Applies experience and comprehensive knowledge and experience of engineering and design principles, theories and concepts, as well as an understanding of new technologies and methodologies, to solve complex problems and to develop improved technical processes for the organization. Develops standards, specifications, criteria and guidelines for the design, construction, techniques, quality control, maintenance and management of new entrant facilities, such as vertiports, droneports, heliports, and infrastructure at airports to accommodate commercial space vehicles and supersonic aircraft operations for both launching and landing. Serves as the Office of Airports' focal point of contact for regional office engineers, airport district office (ADO) engineers and consultants for the development, interpretation and implementation of standards, specifications, criteria, and guidelines for new entrant matters. Assists with the development of standards, policies and guidance for airspace and facilities that accommodate the new entrants. Ensures operations are clear of obstructions and are safely accommodated by facilities. Plans and implements safe integration of these new operations within the legacy NAS. Ensures the safety of the public by applying technical knowledge regarding the performance of the new entrant aircraft. Applies safety techniques, airport geometry standards (when applicable), and operational safety measures to recommend mitigations for hazards and risks. Applies in-depth knowledge of the National Airspace System (NAS) in the conception, planning, and performance of assigned tasks and responsibilities. Provides advice to management on planning methodologies and performance/trend indicators to measure attainment of fiscal year goals and objectives. May develop new or innovative approaches, methodologies and/or techniques to define or lead challenging programs or activities. Coordinates with appropriate lead technical or integration offices including Aircraft Certification (AIR), Office for Advanced Aviation Technologies (AAT), Flight Standards (AFS), Air Traffic Organization (ATO), and Office of Commercial Space (AST) to identify aircraft or vehicle design, performance, and/or operational concepts that deviate from established standards and trigger the need for additional ARP review and consideration for safe airport integration. Reviews applicable Modification of Standards (MOS) requests and deviations from standards and recommends appropriate action. As deviations are identified, gathers relevant information to assist in informing ARP management on policy, guidance, and resource needs. Revises and/or manages the update of assigned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circulars (AC) and Engineering Briefs (EB). Coordinates all changes to AC's and EB's with industry, airport engineers, airport sponsors, ATO, AFS, and legal counsel. Provides subject-matter engineering technical advice and guidance (either directly or through facilitating the engagement of other subject-matter experts) to managers, supervisors, and other personnel in developing policy and regulations unique to new and emerging entrant activities. Presents recommendations for adoption, implementation, mitigations, or changes to policies and procedures to senior management. Prepares documentation and reports, to include charts, graphs, statistical summaries, etc. of the revised procedures or processes. Anticipates potential issues and proposes recommendations for preventive actions.

Requirements

We are not accepting applications from noncitizens.

Qualifications and evaluation

IMPORTANT: Applicants may be rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position(s). All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated. Ensure that your application package/resume supports your responses.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page). Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration. Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation. Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered. If you are a current or former Federal employee, and you currently hold or previously held a position classified in the 0801 occupational series, you are not required to submit a college transcript provided you upload a copy of the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, verifying your classification in the 0801 occupational series. Applicants, who are not currently in the 0801 occupational series in the Federal Government and fail to provide a copy of an unofficial or official transcript will not receive further consideration for this vacancy. Upon selection, if not currently employed in the 0801 occupational series, you will be required to submit an official transcript prior to appointment. If you do not have an official transcript (original, with the raised seal), you should contact your school immediately to request it. Foreign Education: For additional information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Basic 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)2 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 allinclusive.)

How to apply

You must apply online to receive consideration. Your application must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the Close Date for it to be accepted. If you are applying for positions associated with FAA registers, your application must be submitted at the time a referral list is created in order to receive consideration for positions associated with a register. Applicants may be required to complete one or multiple assessments as part of the evaluation process. This assessment aims to evaluate the competencies and qualifications essential for the position. RESUMES ARE LIMITED TO TWO PAGES. IN DESCRIBING YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC AND INCLUDE INFORMATION AS IT RELATES TO THE QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Relevant work experience: should align to the Job Announcement and address all required qualifications and include job title, employer name, start/end dates, number of hours worked per week. Education, certification or licensure: If required, education should include school/institution name, completion date, degree type and GPA. Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide ALL of this information may result in a finding of ineligible. You may upload completed documents to your USAJOBS Account. This will provide you the opportunity to utilize the uploaded information again when applying for future vacancies.

Required documents

Only supplemental documentation (e.g. transcript, certifications, SF-50, and/or veterans' documentation) will be accepted in combination with your on-line application or faxed to 202-267-7032. These documents must be uploaded on faxed or before the closing date of the announcement. All submitted documents must reference the announcement number. For guidance on how to create a Federal resume, visit http://www.archives.gov/careers/jobs/forms/resume-guide.pdf. Failure to submit all required documents by the closing date will result in a finding of ineligible. We are not responsible for incomplete, illegible or missing documents. Please DO NOT email your application documents. We cannot accept documents received via the email system. Documents sent via email will NOT receive consideration. This position has a positive education requirement; college transcripts are required for ALL candidates newly appointed to the FAA in the 0800 (Engineering) series. College transcripts must be submitted from current FAA employees applying for internal vacancies if they have never held a position in the 0800 (Engineering) series with the FAA. College transcripts are not required from current FAA employees who are currently occupying an 0800 (Engineering) series. If selected, official transcripts are required prior to employment.

Additional information

We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions. Position may be subject to a background investigation. A one-year probationary period may be required. The person selected for this position may be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of entry on duty. FAA policy limits certain outside employment and financial investments in aviation-related companies. www.faa.gov/jobs/workinghere/financial-disclosure-requirements Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. On-the-Spot will be used to fill this position. The 'Rule of Three', Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy. This position is covered by the FAA Core Compensation plan. Additional information about Core Compensation is available at: https://www.faa.gov/jobs/working_here/benefits. As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) narratives from the initial application in the hiring process for all announcements. Therefore, as an applicant, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA. In lieu of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA section, in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you chose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and clearly reflect the highest level of ability. Your KSA answers will be evaluated further to validate whether the level that you selected is appropriate based on the work history and experience you provided. Your answers may be adjusted by a human resource specialist as appropriate. Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and/or selective placement factor(s) (SPF) may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) and/or Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: (1) score order; (2) category grouping; (3) alphabetical; or (4) priority grouping, and referred to the selecting official for selection consideration. AFSCME Interview Criteria: Article 42, Section 13 states: If the selecting official decides to interview any employee on the selection list for a vacancy, then all who remain under consideration for the position at that point in the process must be interviewed. If the selection list is shortened to a best qualified list through a comparative process, then the best qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list. If it is determined that interviews are required and telephone interviews are not utilized, travel expenses incidental to these interviews will be paid in accordance with the Agency's travel regulations and this Agreement. This Level 5 (Moderate Risk; Public Trust) position requires favorable adjudication of a Minimum Background Investigation (MBI) background investigation prior to appointment, unless a waiver is obtained. Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA