Fire Protection Engineer

Summary

This position is located in the Architect of the Capitol, Senate Office Buildings, Facilities Support Division. The Fire Protection Engineer serves in a developmental capacity with responsibility for performing professional engineering work to protect life and property from destructive fire. The Fire Protection Engineer will perform a variety of more difficult assignments to develop experience.

Duties

TOUR OF DUTY: Monday-Friday 7:00 am to 3:30 pm This position is emergency essential. Depending on the type of emergency, the employee may be required to report to work during emergency situations. Fire Protection Engineering In a developmental capacity, learns theories, principles, practical concepts, processes, and methods of fire prevention and fire phenomena related to fire protection engineering science, engineering design, and the traditional engineering science disciplines. Evaluates the designs of integrated systems involving suppression, detection, and electrical and electronic alarm systems. Designs standards and codes for fire protection engineering techniques and practices; Applies physical science disciplines, advanced mathematics, and/or economics to perform a critical inquiry, analytical reasoning, and scientific methodology. Conducts performance-based modeling and calculations for fire growth and egress and human responses to emergency situations. Oversees fire tests and measurements; and system concepts of fire safety and methods of analysis and evaluation. Fire Prevention Program Management Prevents, identifies, and mitigates fire hazards. Reviews construction work plans and issues system impairment notices and hot work permits as needed. Identifies fire hazards and their risks, the cost of protection, and fire safety designs. Develops, interprets, and promotes fire safety standards. Use quantitative methods to assess aspects of fire and fire safety; Determine and apply scientific principles and theories to fire phenomena. Examines the nature and characteristics of fire phenomena and the associated products of combustion; Determines how fires originate, spread, and are detected, controlled, and/or extinguished. Conducts studies to anticipate and predict fire behavior on materials, structures, machines, and apparatus to protect life and property. Conducts investigations into post fire incidents; Provides specifications for building construction, exit and egress means, and fire protection systems. Conducts activity hazard analyses and surveys corresponding operating activities to assure the proper application of appropriate safeguards and controls; Evaluates new, unique and evolving activities to develop or formulate controls. Serves as Fire Protection advisor to the Fire Electronics Branch and Plumbing Branch. Develops or reviews scopes of work for contracts; Assures contracts that relate to specific Fire Protection related issues are properly written and/or revised; Prepares Government cost estimates; Specifies qualifications of contractor Fire Alarm personnel; Develops incentives and assures inclusion in appropriate contracts and/or partnerships; Reviews, evaluates, and documents contractor performance. The incumbent is responsible for utilizing a thorough knowledge of and compliance with applicable AOC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety rules and regulations to ensure that work progresses in a safe manner and to initiate or take corrective action on unsafe conditions in managed areas. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications. For Engineers: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/general-engineering-series-0801/ For the GS-07: Specialized experience: is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Candidates for the GS-07 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-05) grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as having experience in the following: Assist in the design of fire protection systems for new construction or renovation projects; Prepare technical drawings, specifications, and documentation for fire protection systems; Review engineering plans, specifications, and design computations for compliance with laws, regulations, and building codes. -OR- 1 year of graduate-level education. Graduate Education: Completion of graduate level education in addition to meeting the basic requirements, is qualifying for positions at grade GS-07, if it provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. An academic year of graduate education is defined as 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement or the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 academic year of full-time study. -OR- Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) at the baccalaureate level in an engineering program is qualifying for the GS-07, in addition to meeting the basic educational requirements. S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership. Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses. Grade-point average (G.P.A.)-- Applicants must have a grade-point average of: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum 3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society listed by the Association of College Honor Societies. Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of successfully completed education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. For the GS-09: Candidates for the GS-09 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-07) grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as having experience in the following: Understand and prepare fire protection design drawings and specifications; Review and evaluate engineering plans, specifications, and calculations for technical adequacy and code compliance; Accomplishing developmental assignments utilizing basic techniques, procedures, and methods; Assessing fire protection and fire safety designs of various systems, structures and buildings. - OR - 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent grad