Description

Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to manage water resources in the Columbia River basin! This position serves as the team lead for the Regulation Unit in the Reservoir Control Center to carry out the day-to-day reservoir regulation responsibilities of the Corps of Engineers in the Columbia Basin. You'll manage the system of reservoirs for hydropower, flood risk, Endangered Species recovery, navigation, and water supply.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

• Carry out the day-to-day reservoir regulation responsibilities of the Corps of Engineers as assigned to the Northwestern Division Office.
• Serve as a Team Lead of the Regulation Unit and exercising oversight of regulation of Corps' reservoirs in the Columbia Basin.
• Coordinate regulation of Corps' reservoirs with those of other governmental agencies and utilities.
• Make requests in the name of the United States Entity to the Canadian Entity for power and flood control regulation of Canadian storage reservoirs included in the Columbia River Treaty.
• Collaborate with BPA in scheduling power generation at Corps' hydroelectric projects.
• Coordinate reservoir regulation activities with power interests, navigation companies, fisheries agencies, and other major organized groups who are directly affected by reservoir regulation.
• Establish such operating limitsnormal and specialas are required in the multiple purpose regulation of Columbia Basin reservoirs.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• The duties of this position requires occasional temporary duty (TDY) travel.
• In accordance with DoDM 8140.03 and supplemental Army guidance, the employee must obtain and maintain the following requirements for each Cyber work role (except Data, AI, and/or Software Engineering) at the assigned proficiency level:
• 1) Foundational qualification requirements within 9 months, 2) Resident qualification requirements within 12 months, 3) 20 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) per work role code (which can overlap).

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Reservoir Regulation Team Lead (Interdisciplinary Hydrologist):

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in physical or natural science, or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in any combination of courses in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soils, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources. The course work must have included at least 6 semester hours in calculus (including both differential and integral calculus), and at least 6 semester hours in physics.

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience: Course work, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems. In the absence of water resource experience, professional scientific experience may be acceptable if such experience was preceded by appropriate education in hydrology or by professional hydrology experience.

Basic Requirement for Reservoir Regulation Team Lead (Interdisciplinary Civil Engineer):

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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), 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) 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.

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 A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.

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 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.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes 1) Planning, directing, or executing water management and reservoir regulation operations for a multi-purpose water resources reservoir system; 2) Coordinating water control schedules, flow requests, or hydraulic operational constraints; 3) Conducting hydrologic and hydraulic engineering analyses or water control studies to establish normal and emergency reservoir operating limits; and 4) Serving as a technical lead or senior specialist responsible for providing authoritative water management advice, preparing complex operational briefings, and guiding project- or district-level teams in real-time water control actions. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12).

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience aloneno substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Selective Placement Factor: Applicants must be a current registered professional engineer (P.E.), Hydrologist, or Geologist in the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, or any State in the U.S. NOTE: You must include a copy of your license with your application.

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• This position requires a 1 year probationary period during which the agency evaluates your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In making this determination, the agency may consider your performance and conduct; agency needs and interests; whether your continued employment supports organizational or Government goals; and whether it promotes the efficiency of the Federal service. Continued employment requires written certification that it advances the public interest.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Engineers and Scientists (Non-Construction)Career Program position aligned under the Construction, Analysis, Science, Infrastructure & Engineers (CASIE) Career Management Directorate.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
• Recruitment or Relocation incentive MAY be authorized if determined to be in the best interest of the government.

Expand Hide additional information

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.