Petroleum Engineer
What you'd do
You will serve as a Petroleum Engineer with Bureau of Land Management . This position is located in Anchorage, Alaska. Information about Anchorage and the surrounding area can be found here. We expect to fill one vacancy at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available. Pay will vary based on grade level for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Analyze and review the use of complex drilling rigs and novel drilling techniques and technology. Analyze complex operational programs. Perform technical review and make recommendations for approval of down-hole operations. Review operator submittals to plug and abandon wells. Calculate Downhole Pressures to ensure well control equipment for known Alaska Reservoirs, specifically Cook Inlet and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska. Review Applications for Permits to Drill and approve Sundry Notices for day-to-day operations Communicate with operators, leases, and other governing entities to facilitate relationships and manage information. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement -07/21/2026- unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, 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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A) Degree: professional engineering: To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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: I have a 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 mining 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. 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 the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable towards meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described above. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate professional 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 that applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. To qualify at the GS-09 level you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-7 level. Specialized experience is defined as: Reviewing drilling plans, completion reports, workover procedures, well plugging and abandonment procedures for compliance with federal and state regulations and making technical recommendations by coordinating with other specialists. -OR-Education: 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in engineering. -OR-Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. To qualify at the GS-11 level you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-9 level. Specialized experience is defined as: performing technical reviews and making recommendations for approval of all downhole operations; reviewing downhole pressures, casing and cementing plans, blow-out prevention equipment; coordinating with other specialists; providing technical expertise to other Petroleum Engineers and Petroleum Engineer Technicians regarding inspection and enforcement issues; reviewing well data, leases, well spacing, unit agreements for any potential compliance issues; maintaining spreadsheets and databases necessary for tracking; providing technical reports and expertise to management. -OR-Education: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in engineering. -OR-Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. To qualify at the GS-12 level you must meet the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 level. Specialized experience is defined as: performing technical review and making recommendations for approval of all down-hole operations and reviewing applications for permit to drill (APDs) for completeness and adequacy; reviewing downhole pressures, casing and cementing plans, blow out prevention equipment, geology and other project-specific procedures to protect people, minerals, and aquifers; providing on-the-spot instructions and authorizations for final plugging and abandonment of wells; providing technical expertise and support to junior Petroleum Engineers, Petroleum Engineering Technicians, and/or Petroleum Accounting Technicians concerning oil and gas inspection and enforcement issues; reviewing well data, leases, well spacing, unit agreements for various compliance issues; providing various technical reports to management for higher level meetings; providing expertise to management regarding complex technical issues. 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.
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