Civil Engineer Tech Jobs in Rhode Island (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The employee is responsible for managing and promoting assigned Federal highway programs within the State. Provides engineering stewardship and oversight at various junctures of project and program delivery of Federal-Aid infrastructure projects within the state. This entails working on a broad range of engineering activities in the State associated with the design, construction and maintenance of highways and highway related facilities.
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Duties
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As a Civil Engineer (Highway), you will:

• Provide expertise on Federal laws, regulations, and FHWA policies applicable to Federal-aid highway projects within the State DOT project development process. Represent the Division Office and FHWA in meetings, telephone contacts, public hearings, field reviews, and visits with State DOT officials and other Federal, State, and local agencies for assigned program areas and in the implementation of leadership initiatives.
• Serve as a key technical advisor in meetings, telephone contacts, public hearings, field reviews, and visits with State DOT officials and other Federal, State, and local agencies regarding assigned program areas and in assisting in the implementation of leadership initiatives. Communicate and apply Federal laws, regulations, and FHWA policies applicable to Federal aid projects within the State DOT project development process.
• Conduct highly complex project reviews of projects in accordance with the Division's Risk-Based Stewardship and Oversight plan. Review required project actions for appropriate application of design standards and criteria, conformance with policy and regulations, eligibility for Federal participation, traffic safety features, reasonableness of cost estimates, fulfillment of requirements from the transportation planning and contract provisions.
• Represent the Division Office on high-profile Federal-aid transportation projects that require a wide-ranging knowledge of highway engineering and administration expertise to effectively develop and implement interagency partnerships in furtherance of mutual goals.
• Consult and/or coordinate with other specialists in the Division, such as Planners, Environmental Specialists, Financial Managers, and Structures Engineers, as needed, to clarify or resolve issues and problems related to Federal-aid highway projects. Provide input and advice to State and local officials through informed discussions and by reviewing and commenting on project/program documents.
• Review and evaluate project studies and provide expertise on various and complex alternatives and/or modifications. Authorize project agreements which may include reviewing the adequacy of proposed rights-of-way clearances, NEPA, construction plans, agreements for utility and railroad work, consultant agreements.
• Promote technology resource-sharing among Federal and other government agencies to achieve a state-of-the-art highway system.
• Participate and lead select task forces or ad-hoc work groups (e.g., research, management improvement of state engineering practices, value engineering studies, or special technical review committees).
• Participate in and contributes to Division program management activities including development of stewardship and oversight plans, conducting risk assessments, development of strategic operations and business plans, promotion of the implementation of a performance-based planning and programming process to partner agencies, and identification and tracking of performance measures and the associated reporting processes.
• Lead teams or participate in oversight activities, such as process reviews, and in-depth documentation reviews of Federal-aid programs; advise on problems and deficiencies, prepare reports and in-depth analysis, coordinate corrective actions, review and evaluate practices, and share innovative practices, procedures and technologies
• Participate in assessing State programs for effectiveness and compliance.

The ideal candidate for this position is a mid-career engineer with experience monitoring Statewide Federally funded highway programs or managing the delivery of a program of highway projects from initial scoping through construction support and maintenance; and experience conveying ideas and concepts to persuade others in meetings, discussions, and in writing.
Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Direct Hire Authority/SME will be used to fill this position

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A background security investigation is required for all selected individuals. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of the security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Applicants may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications
To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the Education Requirement for the series, (2) provide a copy of transcripts for verification, AND (3) meet the specialized experience requirements for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.
To qualify for the GS-12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11, it must include:

• Experience applying civil engineering principles to the design, construction, or maintenance of highway/transportation infrastructure projects in accordance with established engineering standards and methods.
• Experience consulting with multidisciplinary engineering teams, and resolving technical conflicts that arise during project delivery.
• Experience interpreting and applying federal or state transportation laws, policies, and regulations.

To qualify for the GS-13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include:

• Experience independently planning, coordinating, and evaluating highway and bridge design and construction projects.
• Experience conducting technical reviews of Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E).
• Experience monitoring Federal-aid Highway Program compliance under Title 23 CFR and NEPA guidelines.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

• Transportation Engineering - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods applicable to planning, designing, and constructing of transportation systems including traffic analysis, signal analysis, highway capacity, pavement design, bridge construction, planning of transportation projects, environmental analysis of transportation facilities, and transportation network analysis.
• Technical Credibility - Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.
• Oral Communication (*) - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the
  information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and
  responds appropriately.

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.
For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/frequently-asked-questions/employment-faq/federal-hiring/how-do-i-apply-for-federal-jobs/
All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Education
MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:
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)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 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). All applicants must meet the education requirements under A or B to qualify for applying to an engineering position. Transcripts are required for this position.
Additional information
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, FairChanceAct@dot.gov. To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation
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