Army Fellows Program - Mechanical Engineer (65715)

US Army Corps of Engineers; Rock Island (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

US Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District seeks recent Mechanical Engineering graduates to join the Army Fellows Program, a two‑year developmental path with hands‑on project work across civil works and military facilities. Fellows gain mentorship and rotation through design, construction oversight, and regulatory compliance to build engineering expertise.

Participants contribute to flood risk management, dam and levee projects, and environmental initiatives while receiving formal

Qualifications

• Degree requirements include ABET‑accredited program or equivalent engineering education with calculus, physics, and core engineering science courses.

Responsibilities

• Assist in design and construction/repair of mechanical systems using established criteria.
• Perform engineering calculations, studies, and evaluations.
• Support project managers and multidisciplinary teams on infrastructure projects.
• Review mechanical design documents, computations, and submittals.
• Monitor testing of devices and review results for contract compliance.
• Identify mechanical problems and recommend corrective actions.
• Participate in site visits, inspections, and construction oversight.
• Analyze data and propose improvements and solutions.
• Ensure compliance with standards, environmental regulations, and safety requirements.
• Collaborate with federal, state, local, and industry partners.

Skills

Mechanical Eng

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Job description

USACE Organization

Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) - Rock Island District

Announcement Type

Direct-Hire Authority (DHA)

Locations (City, State)

Rock Island, IL

Position Overview/Duties

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is seeking highly motivated recent graduates in Mechanical Engineering to join the Army Fellows Program, a premier two-year developmental program designed to build the next generation of engineering professionals supporting critical national infrastructure and public service missions.

As a Mechanical Engineer Fellow, you will receive structured training, developmental assignments, mentorship, and hands-on experience supporting a diverse portfolio of civil works, military construction, environmental, and emergency management projects. Fellows work alongside experienced engineers and project delivery teams to plan, design, construct, and maintain infrastructure that strengthens national security, protects communities, and enhances the nation’s quality of life.

Throughout the program, Fellows rotate through key functional areas to gain broad exposure to engineering design, project management, construction oversight, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder engagement. Assignments may include supporting flood risk management projects, navigation systems, ecosystem restoration initiatives, military facilities, dams, levees, and other critical infrastructure projects across the nation.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist in the design and construction/repair of mechanical engineering devices, equipment or systems using established criteria or specifications.
• Perform engineering calculations, technical studies, and evaluations using established engineering principles and practices.
• Support project managers, engineers, and multidisciplinary teams in delivering complex infrastructure projects.
• Review technical mechanical engineering project design documents, computations, and submittals.
• Monitor the testing of mechanical engineering devices, systems or their equipment or components and review the test results to ensure proper functionality and contract compliance.
• Identify mechanical engineering problems and recommend corrective action.
• Participate in site visits, inspections, and construction oversight activities.
• Analyze engineering data and prepare recommendations for project improvements and solutions.
• Ensure compliance with applicable engineering standards, environmental regulations, and safety requirements.
• Collaborate with federal, state, local, and industry partners to support project delivery.
• Participate in leadership development, formal training, and professional growth opportunities throughout the Fellows Program.

The Army Fellows Program Provides

• A structured two-year developmental program.
• Progressive career advancement opportunities.
• Formal leadership and technical training.
• Mentorship from experienced engineering professionals.
• Exposure to enterprise-wide USACE missions and operations.
• Networking opportunities across the Department of the Army and Federal Government.
• Career progression to increasingly responsible engineering positions upon successful completion of the program.

Other Conditions And Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must sign a mobility agreement if selected.
• Must sign an Army Fellows Participant Agreement if selected.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• A Personnel Security Investigation is required.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or 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.

Basic Requirement For Mechanical Engineer

• 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. (Degree must be completed by June 2026.)

OR

• 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:
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Requirements

In addition to meeting the basic requirements above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience

One year of specialized experience which includes assisting in monitoring the testing of mechanical engineering devices, systems or their equipment or components and reviewing the test results to ensure proper functionality and contract compliance; or, assisting in the inspection and evaluation of mechanical engineering devices, equipment or systems using established criteria. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS‑05).

OR

Education: One full year of graduate level education (or will have completed one full year by June 2026) in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as Engineering.

OR

Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion (or completion no later than June 2026), all the requirements for a bachelor’s degree with Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.). In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that qualifies for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing-Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade‑point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).

NOTE

Grade point averages will be rounded to one decimal point. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0, and 2.94 will round to 2.9.

NOTE

If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, your S.A.A. claim must be based on class standing or membership in an honor society and you must provide evidence of your class standing or honor society membership with your application.

OR

5-Year Engineering Program

Successful completion (or completion by June 2026) of a 5-year program of study (i.e., one designed to be completed in no less than 5 years) of at least 160 semester hours leading to a bachelor’s degree in engineering in an ABET accredited college or university.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience

A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition‑of‑foreign‑qualifications/

Additional Information

This position is being filled under the Direct Hire Authority for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce.

You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.

Direct Deposit of Pay is required.

Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from the 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, Analysis, Science, Infrastructure & Engineers (CASIE) 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/ for more information.

Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations.

If selected, official college or university transcripts must be submitted.

This recruitment provides promotion opportunity to the target grade of the position without further competition when the selectee is eligible and recommended by management.

The incumbent works under closer supervision and works in a developmental capacity performing assignments and completing training, both of which are aimed at preparing the incumbent to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties outlined in the aforementioned job description. The incumbent receives progressively more responsible assignments as experience and training are received to the next higher level position.

This position requires a 1-year probationary period during which the agency evaluates your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In making this determination, the agency may consider your performance and conduct; agency needs and interests; whether your continued employment supports organizational or Government goals; and whether it promotes the efficiency of the Federal service. Continued employment requires written certification that it advances the public interest.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non‑merit factor

To learn more, please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity (https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector/federal-employees-job-applicants).

Qualifications - Candidates will be evaluated in accordance with OPM General Schedule (GS) Qualification Standards or Federal Wage System (FWS) Qualifications and Job Elements

GS Standards: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Reasonable Accommodation

Reasonable accommodation is available to qualified employees with disabilities. You can request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the application process, hiring process or while on the job. Requests are evaluated on a case‑by‑case basis.