Electrical Engineer

Summary

You will serve as an Electrical Engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region, located at the Grand Coulee Power Office and associated operating offices. You will provide electrical engineering support for powerplants, pumping plants, transmission systems, industrial control systems, protective relaying systems, and other complex water and power facilities.

Duties

This is a developmental position with promotion potential to the GS-12 level. At lower grade levels, assignments are performed under close supervision and involve less complex work. As experience is gained, the employee will perform progressively more difficult assignments with increasing independence and responsibility until the full performance level is reached. Lead engineering analyses and coordinate technical planning, design, modeling, and troubleshooting for complex electrical systems and projects across multiple locations. Develop and review project job plans, guidelines, and technical documentation; present findings at meetings and briefings. Plan, schedule, and conduct facility inspections, assessments, and investigations; identify deficiencies, estimate repairs, and document results. Mentor and guide engineers and technicians, provide technical reviews, and ensure quality assurance processes are followed. Manage project plans, oversee contract administration, ensure regulatory compliance, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver reliable power and water services. Physical Demands: The work is typically performed in an office setting with no special physical demands. However, work may also be performed in the field which involves periods of moving about worksites, bending, climbing, or driving motor vehicles to worksites. The work regularly combines both office and field assignments. Field work requires physical exertion, such as long periods of standing, or recurring and considerable walking, stooping, bending, crouching, crawling, and climbing such as in regular and periodic construction activities and field inspections. Work may also include frequent lifting of moderately heavy items weighing less than 50 pounds. Field assignments may involve driving motor vehicles to work sites in remote locations requiring overnight stays. Work Environment: The work is usually performed in an office setting. However, work time may also be spent periodically visiting field sites. Field site visits are typically performed in either an outdoor setting subject to weather changes, diverse terrain, and safety hazards associated with working around complex features and/or construction, or an industrial setting subject to noise, fumes, and moving machinery. Both settings may require the use of personal protective equipment. The work may also involve some overnight travel for training, meetings, and site visits. Safety precautions and protocols are observed at all times and the incumbent complies with safety instructions and regulations and ensures individual and others' safety by promptly reporting unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, and accidents to the supervisor. The work involves regular and recurring exposure to moderate risks, discomforts, and unpleasantness such as: high noise levels, infectious materials, or toxic or irritating chemicals; travel in safety approved small aircraft and watercraft; high winds and low or high temperatures; infestation of dangerous reptiles or poisonous plants, snakes, or insects; adverse weather conditions; noxious fumes; flammable liquids; or radiation. The work involves performing tasks in close proximity to rotating heavy mechanical and electrical machinery and may involve working within confined spaces for extensive periods of time. Special safety precautions such as protective clothing and gear are necessary. Safety precautions and protocols are observed at all times and the incumbent complies with safety instructions and regulations and ensures individual and others' safety by promptly reporting unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, and accidents to the supervisor.

Qualifications

This is an open continuous announcement in which applications are accepted over several months and reviewed according to multiple cut-off dates. Applicants who apply by the initial cut-off date will receive first consideration. The first cut-off date is 11:59 pm ET, 10/29/2026. Applicants will have 5 days to complete the required USA Hire Assessment after receiving the assessment notice. Applications will continue to be reviewed throughout the open period; however, additional referral certificates will only be issued when a hiring official has exhausted a current certificate and/or when additional vacancies arise. Final application disposition will be completed once all positions have been filled or the announcement reaches the end of the open period stated in the announcement. All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-01/08/2027-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To receive credit for experience, 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To be considered qualified for this position, you must first meet the basic education requirements for the series. In addition, the HR Office must be able to clearly determine from your resume that you meet the specialized experience requirements. Be sure your resume fully and explicitly supports the specialized experience you claim. Basic Education Requirements; Successfully completed a bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). OR Successfully completed a bachelor's or higher degree in Engineering that included 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 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 one of the branches of 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)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 typicall