NAVAL ARCHITECT/GENERAL ENGINEER

Job Description

At the full performance GS-13 grade level, the incumbent develops, maintains and revises and interprets international conventions, regulations, policies and guidance related to tonnage measurement. S/he distills, analyzes and reports on tonnage technical data and historical policy in order to formulate appropriate recommendations; considers a wide variety of engineering, economic and legal factors, including potential impacts on vessel design and operation, historical precedence, relationship to other vessel requirements, and vessel design evolutionary trends; and ensures that tonnage requirements can be understood by a wide audience that includes government officials, naval architects, owners/operators of commercial vessels, and the recreational boating community. Additional duties include: performs detailed volumetric calculations to establish tonnages for vessels measured by the Coast Guard and to estimate tonnages for other vessels; provides oversight of classification societies which measure vessels on behalf of the Coast Guard; develops computer tools to assist in the tonnage measurement process; performs trend analysis to assist in developing process improvements and to more effectively target oversight resources; and provides technical advice and interpretations to a wide audience, including field personnel, other government agencies, representatives of the maritime industry and members of the recreational boating community, concerning the intent and application of tonnage requirements.

Job Requirements

PLEASE APPLY AT WWW.USCG.MIL/CIVILIANJOBS THIS POSITION CLOSES ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

Applicants must show that they possess knowledge of professional engineering or architectural principles, methods and procedures through one of the following:

completion of a bachelor's or higher degree in engineering from an ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited school or that included courses in differential and integral calculus and courses (beyond 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

registration as a professional engineer by a state, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

OR

successfully passed the Engineering-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration that is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico, and completed all the requirements for either (a) a bachelor's degree in engineering technology (BET) from an accredited college or university that included at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, or (b) a BET from an ABET-accredited program.

OR

a combination of at least 4 years of college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that included successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences, including the courses listed in paragraph A above. (NOTE: The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum.)

OR

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) AND have at least 1 year of professional engineering experience under the guidance and supervision of a professional engineer.

This position may be filled at the GS-11, 12, or 13 grade levels. In addition to the educational requirements above, applicants must also have one of the following:

At the GS-11 level:

at least one full year of experience (equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service) applying a good understanding of engineering principles, practices, and techniques in naval architecture or another engineering discipline related to vessels; performing a variety of engineering related work operations which necessitates familiarity with and proficiency in applying established methods, procedures, and techniques; managing assignments relevant to vessels that are either a complete but limited project or study (or segment thereof); and making minor modifications or adaptations to situations addressed by established procedures as are necessary to accommodate particular conditions or problems. The experience described in this paragraph may include experience in any engineering discipline that is related to, or can be readily applied to vessels, even if the experience is not strictly in the fields of naval architecture or marine engineering.

OR

3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. This can include any graduate level engineering courses that are required for a Master's Degree or higher.

OR

a combination of education and experience for GS-11: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education as described above and specialized experience as described above may be used to meet the total qualification requirements. When an applicant has less than one year specialized experience as described above, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Forty hours of work per week in the specialized field for 12 months is equivalent to one year of full-time experience, and generally, 18 graduate-level semester hours is equivalent to one full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes one full-time year of graduate study). Applicants must have successfully completed more than two years of graduate level education to use this option to qualify. Applicants percentage of specialized work experience (for example, 6 months equals 50%) and the percentage of graduate study (for example, 45 graduate-level semester hours for a GS-11 grade level position equals 50%) must total at least a 100%.

At the GS-12 level:

at least one full year of experience (equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service) applying broad knowledge of engineering practices, precedents, standards and techniques in naval architecture or another engineering discipline related to vessels; interpreting and applying guidance documents to a variety of problems within an assigned specialization; independently planning and conducting complete projects or studies of a conventional nature; performing a variety of engineering tasks related to new applications for which precedent guidelines or complete data are not readily available; and working independently in terms of details and sequence of steps during the progress of the work with responsibility for its technical adequacy. The experience described in this paragraph may include experience in any engineering discipline that is related to, or can be readily applied to vessels, even if the experience is not strictly in the fields of naval architecture or marine engineering.

At the GS-13 level:

at least one full year of experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service) applying a mastery of the concepts and principles of naval architecture to resolve novel or obscure problems; extending and modifying techniques; developing new approaches that guide others who solve a variety of technical problems; designing and developing new types of experimental equipment or adaptation of existing types of equipment to new applications for which precedent guidelines or complete data are not readily available; serving as an expert advisor and consultant to officials and managers within or outside the organization on a broad range of engineering activities and policy issues; applying new, innovative, or experimental naval architecture or engineering theories, developments, or practices to problems or studies not susceptible to treatment by usual methods. The one full year of experience described in this paragraph need not be in every category listed; however, as a minimum, it must involve applying a mastery of concepts and principles related to vessel volume calculations and stability, as well as developing and applying new approaches and/or governing requirements spanning a broad range of engineering activities and policy issues.

Time-in-Grade Requirements: This only applies to those applying under merit promotion procedures. Applicants applying under merit promotion must also have completed at least 52 weeks at the next lower grade-interval than the grade applying for to meet the time-in-grade requirement for the position. Creditable service includes competitive and excepted service in General Schedule and other pay systems. Time-in-Grade requirements do NOT apply to those applying under noncompetitive special appointing authorities; those applicants who have previously held the grade applying for under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service; those applicants who have served in a non-General Schedule position continuously during the previous 52 weeks; and those applicants whose General Schedule service during the previous 52 weeks has been totally under temporary appointment.

Applicants must meet all qualification and other applicable requirements by the closing date of the announcement.