Interdisciplinary Waterways Maintenance Chief.

US Army Corps of Engineers; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

US Army Corps of Engineers in Portland, OR seeks a supervising engineer to lead the Navigation Division’s maintenance and dredging programs. You will manage project plans, schedules, and contract execution while coordinating with partner offices for design, surveys, and deployment of resources.

The role requires a strong background in engineering education, strategic planning, and leadership of diverse technical teams to improve dredging operations and ensure compliance with regulations.

Qualifications

• Leading organizational change management initiatives for navigation maintenance programs.
• Applying strategic thinking and long-range planning to budgets and solutions.
• Directing a multi-disciplinary technical or scientific workforce.
• Managing conflict with sponsors, resource agencies, or higher authorities.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Navigation Division supervisory program manager for channel and navigation projects and design/execute maintenance plan.
• Oversee scheduling of the West Coast hopper dredge fleet maintenance program, including hydrographic surveys.
• Direct preparation of plans and specs for navigation channel maintenance dredging contracts and modifications.
• Conduct continuous studies for improvement of dredging operations and management of material.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Organizational development

Conflict management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

ABET-accredited program OR equivalent combination

Engineering fundamentals coursework (calc, physics, chem)

Professional licensure or FE/PE pathway

Job description

Duties

• Serve as Navigation Division supervisory program manager for a variety of channel and navigation projects and has direct responsibility for the design and execution of the maintenance plan.
• Oversee scheduling of the West Coast hopper dredge fleet maintenance program, including associated hydrographic surveys.
• Direct preparation of plans and specifications for navigation channel maintenance dredging contracts and modifications thereto; maintains close coordination with CENWP-CE during contract administration.
• Conduct continuous studies for improvement of dredging operations and management of the resultant material.

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement For Supervisory Interdisciplinary General 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.

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.

Basic Requirement For Supervisory Interdisciplinary Physical Scientist:

• Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

OR

• Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to one of the majors, as shown in A above, that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Basic Requirement For Supervisory Interdisciplinary Biological Scientist:

• Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR

• Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Basic Requirement For Supervisory Interdisciplinary Oceanographer:

• Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) with a major study of at least 24 semester hours in oceanography or a related discipline such as physics, meteorology, geophysics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, geology, or biology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of oceanography, physics, geophysics, chemistry, mathematics, meteorology, computer science, and engineering sciences. Applicants who qualify on the basis of major study in biology or geology must have had at least 6 semester hours in the major directly concerned with marine science or 6 semester hours in oceanography; applicants who qualify on the basis of other physical sciences or engineering must have had differential and integral calculus and at least 6 semester hours in physics.

OR

• Combination of Education and Experience: Course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In Addition To Meeting The Basic Requirement Above, To Qualify For This Position You Must Also Meet The Qualification Requirements Listed Below:

Specialized Experience:

• 1) Leading organizational change management initiatives to adapt navigation maintenance, civil works waterway, or comparable technical programs to evolving operational, regulatory, environmental, budget, or stakeholder requirements;
• 2) Applying strategic thinking and long-range planning to analyze program needs, justify budgets, and devise solutions to complex engineering, oceanographic, or environmental problems affecting navigable channels, harbors, rivers, or estuaries;
• 3) Directing a multi-disciplinary technical or scientific workforce, including work assignment, performance management, and employee development;
• 4) Managing conflict by resolving, negotiating, or mediating politically sensitive, environmentally controversial, or multi-stakeholder issues with sponsors, resource agencies, ports, or higher authorities.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Education

• Conflict Management
• Leadership
• Organizational Development
• Strategic Thinking