Engineering Technician
What you'd do
This position is located at the Durham VA Medical Center, Durham NC, and reports to the Supervisory Healthcare Engineer.
Major duties
Duties include, but are not limited to: Prepares contract drawings and specifications for competitively bid construction and maintenance repair work at this VA Medical Center. Also prepares drawings for outpatient clinic (OPC) level projects. Duties include architectural design, mechanical and electrical design, fire sprinkler design, lighting design, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, ventilation design and asbestos abatement design. Prepares detailed cost estimates for competitively bid construction projects and maintenance and repair work. Serves as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) on projects and inspects competitively bid construction and maintenance and repair projects to insure compliance with drawings and specifications. Works with General Contractor to resolve problems that arise due to error or differing site conditions. Coordinates all projects with using service, from conception to completion. Works with service chiefs to prepare project applications, conceptual plans, scope of work and construction documents, etc. Performs assessments in areas of maintenance and repair or remodeling to help determine the presence of asbestos. Reviews change order requests from contractors for accuracy and cost control and negotiates, when necessary. Assists consulting architects and engineers with design of competitively bid construction and maintenance and repair work. Provides existing as built drawings, field measurements, VA construction standards and VA construction specifications. Reviews preliminary design drawings and specifications for errors and omissions and technical soundness. Performs field measurements and gathers engineering data necessary for preparing construction drawings and specifications. Reviews shop drawings and submittals from contractors during construction of new structures or renovation of existing structures for compliance with specifications. Prepares construction progress reports and payment requests for contract construction projects. Maintains record drawings of all Station structures and grounds utilizing AutoCad programs. Makes necessary changes to keep drawings current as remodeling occurs. Record drawings are low priority and accomplished only as time allows. As required, assists in orientation of any temporary technician or draftsman when assigned to the project section. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Position Description/PD#: Engineering Technician/PD05413A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/20/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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 former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements Series Definition: This series covers technical positions supervising, leading, or performing work involving applying a practical knowledge of the: methods and techniques of engineering or architecture; and construction, application, properties, operations, and limitations of engineering systems, processes, structures, machinery, devices, and materials. Basic Requirements: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 or equivalent and above): Examples of qualifying specialized experience include technical work in: drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems. Experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work provided intensive knowledge of engineering principles, techniques, methods, and precedents. Examples are trade positions with substantial developmental, test, or design responsibilities such as: Planner and estimator who analyzed designs for production purposes. Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated. Certification: Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experience. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements you must also meet the Specialized Experience. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience GS-11: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of personal computers and AutoCad program. Must be able to prepare, read and interpret engineering and structural drawings and specification. Knowledge of all construction trades, applicable to the domiciliary (i.e. masonry, concrete, carpenter, roofing, insulating, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, sheet metal, floor covering and fire sprinkler systems). Must have ability to communicate with contractors, contracting officers and VA management officials. Must be capable of preparing reports, and have knowledge of safety procedures and fire protection. 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/.
Before you apply
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