CIVIL ENGINEER (HYDRAULICS/HYDROLOGIC)

US Natural Resources Conservation Service; Flagstaff (AZ); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in the United States is seeking a professional engineer with expertise in hydraulics and hydrology to lead river basin studies, watershed plans, and floodplain management analyses. The incumbent will develop designs and supporting calculations for water resources projects in accordance with NRCS standards and NEH guidance.

Qualifications include an engineering degree (ABET-accredited) and eligibility for FE/EIT or PE licensure, with experience in

Qualifications

• Engineering degree with ABET accreditation or equivalent educational background.
• Eligibility via FE exam, EIT, or professional licensure.
• Strong knowledge of hydraulics, hydrology, and water resources.
• Experience with watershed protection, flood mitigation, or related projects.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for river basins and floodplain studies.
• Develop designs, drawings, specs, and calculations for water resources projects per NRCS standards.

Skills

Hydraulics

Hydrology

Water resources

Modeling tools

Technical guidance

Education

Engineering degree

ABET-accredited program

Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) or EIT/PE registration

Tools

HEC-RAS

HEC-HMS

TR-20

TR-55

Job description

This position is located in the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), West Region. The incumbent has responsibility for performing professional engineering and scientific work involving hydraulics and hydrologic aspects of river basin studies, watershed plans, floodplain management studies, other water resources projects, and conservation technical assistance projects. In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts.

Basic Education Requirement:

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

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.

Specialized Experience Requirement

For the GS-12 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: Performing advanced hydrologic and hydraulic analyses using modeling tools such as HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, TR-20, TR-55, or similar software to evaluate watershed behavior, analyze flood risk, compute peak flows, and assess hydraulic performance of channels, culverts, and other water resource structures; Developing engineering designs, drawings, technical specifications, and supporting calculations for watershed protection, flood mitigation, channel stabilization, or similar water resources projects in accordance with NRCS standards, National Engineering Handbook (NEH) guidance, and accepted engineering practices; Conducting detailed field investigations to evaluate post-disaster watershed conditions (e.g., flood, post-fire, erosion hazards), verify hydrologic and hydraulic assumptions, determine engineering feasibility, and support emergency response actions under programs such as EWP; Preparing engineering recommendations, alternatives analyses, cost estimates, and technical documentation to support planning and implementation of projects under programs such as Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) and Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO), or comparable watershed programs; Reviewing engineering plans, calculations, and technical products for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with agency standards, and providing technical guidance or consultation to partners, field offices, contractors, or project sponsors on hydrologic and hydraulic engineering issues.

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.