State Conservation Engineer

US Natural Resources Conservation Service; Warwick (RI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

US Natural Resources Conservation Service in Rhode Island seeks a senior engineering leader to guide statewide programs. You will oversee engineering standards, planning, design, and construction, and mentor staff on technical practices.

The role emphasizes coordination across project teams and adherence to federal engineering guidelines. The position requires substantial engineering expertise, professional registration or equivalent credentials, and the ability to manage complex engineering

Qualifications

• Engineering degree required or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• ABET-accredited program or calculus/engineering science coursework meeting basic requirements.
• Professional registration/licensure (EI/EIT or PE) or FE exam.
• 60 semester hours of physical, mathematical and engineering sciences and related courses.
• Related curricula may be accepted with substantial engineering experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide staff leadership in NRCS engineering programs in Rhode Island.
• Formulate standards, specifications, engineering planning, design and construction.
• Analyze engineering work and training to recommend training and placement of engineering personnel.
• Lead and coordinate engineering activities, including developing plans and managing designs and construction practices.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Staff development

Standards & specifications

Planning & design

Education

ABET-accredited engineering degree

60 semester hours physical/mathematical/engineering sciences

Job description

This position is located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Rhode Island State Office and reports to the State Conservationist. Provides staff leadership in engineering programs of NRCS in Rhode Island, including formulation of standards, specifications, engineering planning, design and construction; analyzes engineering work and training to recommend training and placement of engineering personnel.

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.

This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below.

Basic Requirement: GS-0810/0890:

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.

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.)

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education listed below.

Specialized Experience Requirement

At least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. For this position, examples of specialized experience include:

1. Analyzes engineering work and training needs of subordinate technical staff.
2. Reviews draft of work plans and project measures for adequacy of the engineering aspects.
3. Prepares specifications and guidelines for planning, design, and construction of the structural practices of organizational programs.
4. Trains field engineers in the use of engineering standards and procedures.
5. Provides leadership on all engineering activities including developing engineering plans, coordination of designs, and management of construction engineering practices.

NOTE: There is no education substitution for specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level.

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.