CIVIL ENGINEER

Bureau of Reclamation; Durango (CO); On-site; USD 70,000 - 97,000; Full time

Job summary

The Bureau of Reclamation seeks a Civil Engineer to help meet increasing water demands in the West while protecting the environment. Duty locations include Durango, CO; Grand Junction, CO; Salt Lake City, UT, with travel as needed. First time hires to the Federal government start at the step 1 rate.

Transcripts must be provided. Qualifications emphasize an ABET-accredited engineering degree, plus specialized experience in hydrology, reservoir operations, and water resources management.

Qualifications

• Analyzing and interpreting hydrologic and/or civil engineering data.
• Work experience related to hydrology, reservoir operations, water resources, or resource management.
• Basic knowledge of engineering fundamentals and applications to water resources projects.

Education

ABET-accredited engineering degree

Engineering fundamentals (calculus, statics, dynamics, hydraulics)

Professional registration or licensure (EI/EIT or PE)

Job description

You will serve as a CIVIL ENGINEER. Make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.
Duty Location: Durango, CO, Grand Junction, CO, Salt Lake City, UT

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May involve occasional travel up to 10% of the time (some overnight stays) to attend meetings, conferences, training, site visits, etc. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/23/2026-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 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); (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 eminent provision) 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 eminent 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.)

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, the HR Office must be able to determine that you meet both the education and specialized experience requirement - this information must be clearly supported in the resume. Transcripts must be provided.

To qualify at the GS-12, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service having demonstrated experience in:

• Analyzing and interpreting hydrologic and/or civil engineering data.
• Work experience related to hydrology, reservoir operations, water resources, and/or resource management.

Volunteer Experience: 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). 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.