Duties
Summary

Why work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?

You can have a meaningful career with an agency that truly values a diverse workforce. You will find a diverse workforce employed from entry level jobs to senior management positions. We protect public safety by ensuring federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and provide reentry programming. Employees at correctional facilities perform correctional work regardless of their specific occupation.

Learn more about this agency
Responsibilities

Incumbent participates both technically and administratively with members of the regional facilities operations staff in advance planning with respect to Bureau of Prisons policy, and mechanical and utilities design, and operation of new and existing penal and correctional facilities.

Incumbent employs a wide range of mechanical engineering technology in the planning, design and construction of extensive mechanical systems consisting of many components and varied systems. These systems include heating, ventilation, plumbing, air conditioning, refrigeration, wastewater, treatment plants, sanitary drainage systems, solar systems and other items as required to maintain Bureau of Prisons facilities. He/She is responsible for visualizing, suggesting and working out solutions to design and operational problems while selecting practical means of accomplishing desired objectives. Displays a high degree of ingenuity when developing new systems and solving problems as described in general terms by the Regional Facilities Administrator.

Incumbent serves as a project coordinator for contract design projects that are funded by the Building and Facilities or Business and Industries programs. As coordinator, serves as a member of the evaluation/selection board, prepares a statement of work and government-cost estimate, conducts design meetings, reviews pay requests, contract modifications and participates in the final inspection for acceptance.

Incumbent provides the supervisor with cost estimates for new projects and repairs to existing institutional mechanical installations for budgetary purposes in long range planning. The incumbent functions as the technical expert for solving unusual and controversial problems of a critical nature.

Incumbent maintains records of utilities' operational costs, and prepares estimates for budget purposed. Also, participates in the Bureau of Prisons energy conservation program.

Incumbent makes field inspections regarding progress of construction work, inspections of mechanical systems and testing of mechanical equipment to resolve unusual problem cases involving complex engineering situations.

Incumbent reviews and analyzes mechanical features of projects submitted to the regional office by field offices and recommends approval or needed changes. Ensures compliance with established criteria, recommends corrective measures in design and installation and coordinates review with other engineering disciplines concerned with design, construction and/or installation.

Incumbent reviews shop drawings of mechanical equipment as submitted by Contractor, consulting engineers and field offices to assure conformance with specifications. Also, reviews change orders submitted by contractors to assure necessity of work, fair price, etc.

Incumbent makes frequent trips to field activities to investigate existing conditions and to familiarize with problems involving proposed and future construction. Suggests courses of action for the proper execution of work, selects the best method suited to the project, and interprets and clarifies drawings and specifications to ensure complete understanding by institutional personnel. Also, conduct feasibility and life cycle cost studies for proposed projects.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training and/or work related issues.

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

13

Job family (Series)

0830 Mechanical Engineering

Similar jobs

Engineers, Mechanical
Mechanical Engineers

Requirements
Help Requirements
Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship is Required.
See Special Conditions of Employment Section.
Selective Service Requirement: http://www.sss.gov

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1)this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must:

be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; OR

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 professional 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 - - Current registration as a professional engineer 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 position.

Written Test - - Evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners 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 in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A.

Related curriculum - - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., 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.

Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise, or unless he/she qualifies under the provisions of B.2 related to the EIT examination or BET degree.

AND

In addition to the meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must have:

Education:

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this position.

Experience:

You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and this is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

Definition of Professional Engineering Experience: Nonroutine 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.

Professional knowledge of engineering: comprehensive, in-depth knowledge of mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences applicable to a specialty field of engineering that characterizes a full 4-year professional engineering curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree, or the equivalent.
Professional ability to apply engineering knowledge: ability to (a) apply fundamental and diversified professional engineering concepts, theories, and practices to achieve engineering objective with versatility, judgement, and perception; (b) adapt and apply methods and techniques of related scientific disciplines; AND (c)organize, analyze, interpret, and evaluate scientific data in the solution of engineering problems.
Professional work in engineering: continuing personal effort to keep abreast of the advancing and changing discipline. Continuing education in engineering and related fields is an important element of full professional competence as an engineer that should be considered in evaluating the qualifications of applicants for professional engineering positions.

Credit will be given for experience gained in community, cultural, social service, and professional association on the same basis as paid work experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as number of hours worked per week) spent in the activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation.

All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check.

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How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under DOJ's Category Rating and Selection Procedures. Based upon your self-reported responses to the assessment questions during the application process, your application will be placed into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified. Applications will be reviewed from the top quality category. Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If you are found qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to the responses you provided on the online assessment questionnaire.

NOTE: Candidates within the top quality category and who are eligible for veterans preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles.
If you are entitled to veterans preference, you should indicate the type of veterans preference you are claiming on your resume. Although veterans preference points are not assigned under the category rating procedures described under "How You Will Be Evaluated", veterans preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-veterans within each category for which they are qualified.

In addition, qualified veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more are placed at the top of the highest qualified category as defined by category rating procedures.

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required:

Ability to communicate orally.
Ability to communicate in writing.
Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with others.
Knowledge of principles, applications and policies of Mechanical Engineering.

To preview questions please click here.

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Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance

Other

Drug test required

No

Required Documents
Help Required Documents

Veterans' Preference Documentation: Veterans must demonstrate that they have been discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions (i.e., the individual must have received either an honorable or general discharge). Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD-214 indicating type of discharge); or other official documentation (e.g., documentation of receipt of a campaign badge or expeditionary medal).
If you are currently on active duty, a statement from the appropriate Branch Personnel Office containing the following information: Name, Rank, Branch of Service, Active Duty time, Projected Separation Date and type of anticipated discharge must be provided.
If you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, or widow/widower of a veteran, the spouse of a disabled veteran or the parent of a disabled or deceased veteran, you SHOULD submit a completed Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference", and the other required documentation identified on the reverse side of the SF-15 to support your preference claim. Documentation to support a disability must reflect the overall evaluation or percentage disability rating. Veterans must also demonstrate that they have been discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions (i.e., the individual must have received either an honorable or general discharge).
Resume showing relevant experience (cover letter optional).
In order to receive credit for experience contained in a resume, your employment history must be documented in month/year format (MM/YYYY), reflecting starting date and ending date and include the number of hours worked per week. Failure to follow this format may result in disqualification.
A college transcript which includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day).
SF-50 for proof of prior LEO coverage, if applicable.

Failure to provide these documents could possibly result in removal from consideration for this vacancy. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD214, or Transcripts.

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Benefits
Help 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. Learn more about federal 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.

Mechanical Engineer - Military Veterans

San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA