General Engineer (Recent Grad)
What you'd do
This position is part of the Bonneville Power Administration, Department of Energy (BPA). Power Student Development (PD), Power Services (P). As a General Engineer (Recent Grad), you will serve as an engineer performing a wide range of professional engineering studies and assignments.
Major duties
As a General Engineer (Recent Grad), you will: Participate in the BPA engineering rotation program, and completes assignments in at least two different functional areas. Modify standard practices and adapt equipment or techniques to solve a variety of engineering problems and adapts precedents or makes significant departures from previous approaches to similar projects in order to provide for the specialized requirements of some projects. Plan and carry out engineering studies, analyses, and calculations for the solution of problems associated with the overall planning, design, or operation of a high-voltage power generation and transmission system. Adapt, modify, or compromise with guidelines and precedents in consideration of ecological or aesthetic factors which affect the approach to engineering problems. Perform design and layout of plans for systems and equipment. Perform design and engineering functions for older or well-established systems and equipment when new requirements or changed requirements are imposed.
What you need to qualify
To be eligible for the Recent Graduate program you must be a: Recent graduate who has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. -OR- Student who within 90 days of the closing date of this announcement will meet the education requirements and will graduate with a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. A student may not be appointed to a position until they have graduated. -OR- Preference eligible veteran who was precluded from applying due to their military service obligation begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: 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. - OR - 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.) SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: GS-7: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal service. Specialized Experience is defined as: Routine engineering work that required and was characterized by (1) knowledge of engineering; (2) ability to apply such knowledge to engineering problems; and (3) continuing development of engineering knowledge and ability. You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: One year of graduate-level education, or superior academic achievement (S.A.A.) gained in a bachelor degree curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled (based on class standing, grade-point average, or honor society membership). See the following link for more information: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=app -OR- Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with completed graduate education. GS-9: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: Non-routine engineering work that required and was characterized by (1) professional knowledge of engineering; (2) professional ability to apply such knowledge to engineering problems; and (3) positive and continuing development of professional knowledge and ability. You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree, or master's, or equivalent graduate degree; your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. -OR- Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first year of full-time study may be credited). GS-11: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: 1) assisting with engineering studies, analyses, and calculations for power systems under the guidance of senior engineers; 2) contributing to the design, layout, and evaluation of systems or equipment by applying standard engineering principles and practices; and 3) supporting project management functions by performing assigned tasks and coordinating with other technical personnel. You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, or Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree; your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. -OR- Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first two years of full-time study may be credited). You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
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