General Engineer (Project Manager)
What you'd do
The incumbent serves as a Project Manager at National Region in Washington, DC., and is responsible for the management and acquisition processes for the design and construction of national cemeteries through the major capital facilities program. The Project Manager leads a team comprised of a matrix of engineering and architectural specialties partnered to prepare and complete accurate and fully coordinated documents to comply with VA criteria, standards, and all appropriate codes.
Major duties
The major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Manages several contracts simultaneously for studies, designs, services, construction services, and utility installation. Coordinates design activities across civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and architectural disciplines and coordinates project phasing with critical path method specialists and the responsible NCA Directors. Provides support on the full range of technical, financial, and analytical aspects of projects. Monitors project performance, reviews client feedback, and evaluates operational and external factors including government actions, interest groups, other agencies, and VA policies that may affect the project. Conducts studies, chairs task forces, and develops new approaches, alternatives, and recommendations on project and technical review issues. Reviews processes, identifies problems, assesses the impact and implications of findings, and prepares recommendations for action by higher-level management. Confers with management officials and subject matter experts, including program staff, architects, engineers, and legal counsel, on all matters related to the planning, funding, design, award, construction, and occupancy of VA facilities. Oversees activities to ensure value-engineering principles are applied, that economical construction methods and materials are used, and that the project achieves maximum cost efficiency for the Federal Government. Monitors administrative contract support activities and assures that adequate support is provided for acquisition contract requirements and activities. Administers and directs the design and construction of projects within established schedule, quality standards, and budget. Develop written responses to congressional inquiries concerning construction plans, design processes, or on-going construction. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: General Engineer (Project Manager)/PD81037A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): All Professional Engineering Positions have Individual Occupational Requirements. To qualify for this position, you must meet the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR), for General Engineering Series, 0801 as stated below: 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: 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. 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. 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. 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.) For more information on the occupational requirements for the 800 series: Professional Engineering Positions In addition to the IOR listed above, applicants must also meet the specialized experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Oversee major renovation, modernization, or new construction projects as a senior resident engineer for multiple types of medical facilities. Supervise and coordinate a matrix team of engineering and architectural specialties to ensure technical accuracy and project alignment. Administer and interpret federal construction contracts, resolve complex issues and negotiate solutions to document interpretation challenges. Prepare clear written responses to technical and administrative inquiries and communicate project progress effectively through both verbal and written updates. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. 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; religions; 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. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary with regular and recurring travel to proposed and ongoing construction sites. Site visits require the ability to walk over rough terrain, climb ladders and crawl in often-tight spaces. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualificatio ns/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. Information about CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: Proven ability to lead complex VA healthcare engineering projects, guiding multidisciplinary teams to solve infrastructure challenges while ensuring designs meet VA Technical Information Library (TIL) standards, life-safety requirements, and support uninterrupted Veteran care. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Washington, DC. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington DC 20420.
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