Civil Engineer

Bureau of Reclamation; Bismarck (ND); On-site; USD 60,000 - 82,000; Full time

Job summary

Bureau of Reclamation is seeking a Civil Engineer to help manage, develop, and protect water resources across the West. The position has multiple qualification paths including ABET-accredited engineering degrees and professional licensure, with responsibilities spanning design review, construction drawings, and inspection oversight.

Qualified applicants may advance through GS levels based on experience and education. Close date 2026-10-02.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, ABET-accredited or equivalent.
• Professional registration or licensure (EI/EIT/PE) or exam/credential pathways.
• Experience reviewing and/or assisting with engineering designs or data.

Responsibilities

• Review and assist with engineering designs or data.
• Assist in the design and development of construction drawings and specifications.
• Assist with construction inspection oversight.
• Perform assigned engineering project tasks under supervision of a senior engineer.

Skills

Engineering concepts

Data review

Documentation

Education

Engineering degree (ABET-accredited)

Professional Engineer (PE) licensure or EI/EIT

FE exam or equivalent

Job description

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as Civil Engineer. Make a difference in the West by assisting with managing, developing, and protecting water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American Public.

Pay will vary based on grade level you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/02/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following;
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.
-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, 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 all inclusive.)

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service or its non-Federal equivalent that included experience reviewing and/or assisting with engineering designs or data. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least 1 year of graduate-level education. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.
• Superior Academic Achievement (See OPM's General Policies, Application of Qualification Standards Section 4.f.) S.A.A. must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service or its non-Federal equivalent that included 1) Assisting in the design and development of construction drawings and specifications for civil engineering projects. 2) Assisting with construction inspection oversight 3) Performing assigned engineering project tasks under the supervision of a senior engineer. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service or its non-Federal equivalent that included that included assisting with design or management of infrastructure projects and coordinating related projects or agreements with external groups such as Federal and state agencies or private organizations. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.