General Engineer

Summary

This vacancy is for a General Engineer in the Office of National Security Controls in the Bureau of Industry and Security within the Department of Commerce.

Duties

As General Engineer, you will perform the following duties: Demonstrate a general understanding of facts and issues associated with specific items, parts, components, accessories, and/or attachments listed on the Commerce Control List (CCL) or otherwise subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Utilize engineering skills and technical expertise, develop and formulate regulatory policy, evaluate proposed exports, and remediate technical and policy disputes. Analyze and process U.S. export control license applications and commodity classification requests for items that are controlled for national security reasons in accordance with the EAR. Participate in meetings of government and industry experts to solve issues and develop proposals for the control and decontrol of dual use items. Address questions from varying audiences to include peers, representatives from federal agencies or professional organizations or industries, and the public, utilizing engineering skills and knowledge gleaned from EAR. This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other General Engineer GS-0801-11/12, Full Performance Level (FPL GS-12), positions within the Department of Commerce in the same geographical location or local commuting area with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Occupational-Series Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies; knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. BASIC REQUIREMENTS - All applicants must meet the basic requirements listed below: 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: 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. 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, and Puerto Rico. 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. 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. -AND- IN ADDITION, TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS ABOVE APPLICANTS MUST ALSO MEET THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS LISTED BELOW: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: All applicants must possess specialized experience and/or education outlined for each grade level identified below: To qualify at the GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 in the Federal service. GS-11 - Specialized experience is defined as: 1) Supporting the preparation of technical analyses, summaries, and reports; AND 2) Communicating technical information to leadership, internal or external stakeholders, or other relevant audiences regarding engineering concepts, assessment results, and policy considerations; AND 3) Assisting with the research analysis of engineering and technical information to resolve problems. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with the application. Education cannot be credited without supporting documentation. -OR- SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. -OR- COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE that together meets 100% of the required qualifications for this position. To qualify at the GS-12 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. GS-12 - Specialized experience is defined as: 1) Analyzing complex engineering problems involving equipment, components, processes, and technologies; AND 2) Preparing and reviewing engineering plans, designs, reports, and technical data; AND 3) Examining engineering systems and resolving technical problems through the application of engineering methods and prin