Minimum Qualification Requirements:
To qualify for this position you must meet the (1) Basic Educational Requirements AND (2) Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

(1) Basic Educational Requirements:
In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, applicants must meet the Education Requirements described 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:

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, and 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 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.
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 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all inclusive.

(2) Specialized Experience
To qualify for the GS-9, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

1. Assisting with projects or portions of projects throughout the project lifecycle;
2. Analyzing geological and topographic maps related to land restoration activities in various terrains;
3. Interpreting environmental laws, rules, and/or regulations to ensure compliance with existing program requirements;
4. Assisting in the preparation of detailed written assessments, reports, letters, or technical documents; and
5. Assisting with the investigation, study and design for civil engineering projects in relation to mining, slope stability, and/or geotechnical projects. Must meet all.

OR

2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree.

OR

Master's or equivalent graduate degree

OR

A combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level that totals 100% of the requirement for this grade level.

To qualify for the GS-11, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

1. Reviewing investigations, evaluations, and design for civil engineering projects in relation to mining, slope stability, and/or geotechnical projects.
2. Drafting technical reports, gathering and interpreting geotechnical data, developing and/or applying geotechnical computer programs.
3. Interpreting environmental laws, rules, and/or regulations to ensure compliance with existing program requirements.
4. Establishing collaborative working relationships with stakeholders to ensure that their needs are heard and addressed. Must meet all.

OR

B. Degree: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR

3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree

OR

LL.M., if related.

OR

C. Combination of Experience and Education: Only education in excess of the first two years of progressively higher-level graduate education toward a Ph.D. or the equivalent doctorate degree may be used toward this combination (example: 2.5 years in a Ph.D. program (50%) plus 6 months of specialized experience (50%) =100%).

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualification Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions and is available at OPM's website: https://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/num-ndx.asp

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.