CIVIL ENGINEER

Bureau of Reclamation; Farmington (NM); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Bureau of Reclamation in Farmington, New Mexico seeks a Civil Engineer to support the Upper Colorado Region. The position is located at the Four Corners Construction Office; pay varies by grade with first-time hires starting at the step 1 rate.

Qualified applicants may pursue professional licensing and related educational paths as described in the vacancy. Minimum qualifications include ABET engineering education, licensure or credential pathways, and related academic or practical experience.

Qualifications

• Engineering experience and education foundations as described by the basic requirements.
• Professional registration or licensure options (EI/EIT or PE).
• Alternative: related curricula with professional experience to substitute for a degree.

Responsibilities

• Perform engineering analyses and coordinate planning activities.
• Review engineering designs, drawings, and reports.
• Lead or participate in technical work groups or teams.
• Plan and conduct civil engineering facility examinations, reviews, and inspections.

Skills

Engineering analysis

Technical planning

Design review

Team leadership

Education

ABET-accredited engineering program

Professional Engineer (PE) license

FE exam

Tools

None

Job description

You will serve as a CIVIL ENGINEER. This position is located within the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Four Corners Construction Office, located in FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO.

Pay will vary based on grade level for which selected. 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 - 09/18/2026 - 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 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)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 all inclusive.)

-AND-

Specialized experience at the GS-11 level:

To qualify for this position at the GS-11, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service having demonstrated experience performing a minimum of two or more of the following duties:

• Performs engineering analysis to include performing and/or coordinating technical planning activities;
• Completes and/or reviews engineering designs, drawings or reports.
• Participates in and/or leads technical work groups or teams.
• Plans, schedules, coordinates, and conducts civil engineering facility examinations, reviews, and/or inspections;
• Provides technical reviews, peer reviews, and checking of designs, drawings, engineering analysis, and technical documents, specifications, and contract correspondence;
• Provides technical guidance, training, and advice to lower graded engineers and technicians; OR
• Develops, monitors, and manages project plans that outline the scope, schedule, and/or budget of assigned projects.

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. (Degree must reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.). You must include transcripts.

OR

Combination

You may combine specialized experience and education to meet the minimum qualifications.

Specialized experience at the GS-12 level:

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must possess a Professional Engineering (PE) License and one full year of professional experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal Service having demonstrated specialized experience performing a minimum of four or more of the following duties:

• Performs engineering analysis to include performing and/or coordinating technical planning activities;
• Completes and/or reviews engineering designs, drawings or reports.
• Participates in and/or leads technical work groups or teams.
• Plans, schedules, coordinates, and conducts civil engineering facility examinations, reviews, and/or inspections;
• Provides technical reviews, peer reviews, and checking of designs, drawings, engineering analysis, and technical documents, specifications, and contract correspondence;
• Provides technical guidance, training, and advice to lower graded engineers and technicians; OR
• Develops, monitors, and manages project plans that outline the scope, schedule, and/or budget of assigned projects.

Professional Engineering registration is required by Reclamation Policy (GS-12 level only).

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.