General Engineer (Building Automation Systems Engineer)

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Senior Building Automation Systems (BAS) Engineer Subject Matter Expert (SME), within the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Office of Construction & Facilities Management (CFM), Consulting Support Service (CSS), which has primary responsibility for architectural, engineering, and risk management services to all VA facilities. CSS maintains subject matter experts in engineering, architectural and provides consulting services to resolve complex problems and options.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

06/25/2024 to 07/08/2024

• Salary

$139,395 - $181,216 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 14

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• District of Columbia, DC 1 vacancy

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent

• Work schedule

Full-time

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

14

• Job family (Series)

0801 General Engineering

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

RP-24-SMF-12455724-NBU-DHA

• Control number

797021700

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This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

• The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

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Duties

CSS supports all components of VA nationwide including professionals within CFM, including but not limited to, providing support on building project design issues, subject matter expertise in all matters pertaining to VA's major design and construction programs, and serving as VA's authoritative source for advice on issues at existing VA Medical Centers. The Building Systems Engineer serves as the VA subject matter expert in all matters related to BAS requirements and practice for support of quality VA building design, construction, and facility life cycle activities.

The major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Providing guidance, review, facilitation, and advisory support related to building automation systems to internal and external stakeholders.

• Resolving complex and unusual problems and difficulties associated with building systems design, construction, and operations for specialized VA facilities.

• Developing and maintaining expertise in state-of-the-art smart BAS, including Government requirements, industry standard-of-care, and relevance to modern building rating systems.

• Conducing comprehensive investigations or studies to resolve and troubleshoot complex problems that occur throughout various phases of building construction projects.

• Collaborating with industry professionals and project stakeholders within and external to the facility.

• Conducting training sessions to various project stakeholder groups to communicate developments in BAS and evolving requirements for complex building systems applied to medical facilities.

• Providing guidance and implementing policy directives on building systems issues in support of VA's Major Construction Program.

• Developing and presenting written and oral reports to other professional engineers and architects on difficult problems as they occur during and after design or construction.

• Evaluating findings against current methods, designs, standards, and specifications and evaluating feasibility for VA use.

• Acting as the Design Support Team (DST) lead, chairing a team of SMEs reviewing VA Major Construction project design documents for compliance with codes, standards, and VA requirements.

• Participating in various VA committees such as CFM Sustainability Working Group(s) and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Variance Committee.

• Participating in various project design, construction, and commissioning events in consultation with the CSS Director.

• Assisting in developing Statements of Work for VA projects, as related to BAS.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible: May be Available

Telework: Available

Remote/Virtual: This is NOT a remote or virtual position

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Not Available

Position Description Title/PD#:General Engineer (Building Automation Systems Engineer)/ PD100090

Financial Disclosure: Not Required

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary with travel required to conduct training, to assess site conditions and to negotiate a phasing schedule for purposed repair/construction.

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job

• Subject to a background/suitability investigation

• May serve a probationary period

• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.

• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

• Professional Engineering license

• Obtain and maintain related nationally recognized building automation system certification within one year of hire date

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date 07/08/2024 of this announcement.

You must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience as described below:

• NOTE: Applicant must have demonstrated knowledge and working experience in the building automation systems.*

GS-14 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. To qualify at the GS-14 level, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in Federal Service. The specialized experience must demonstrate one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent if part-time (for example, an employee working 20 hours per week for a 12-month period should be credited with 6 months of experience.) Experience may have been obtained in either the federal service or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations. Examples of specialized experience include extensive knowledge in the Building Automation systems, including: HVAC controls, central heating and cooling utility plant controls, energy system controls, lighting controls, electrical system controls, and systems optimization controls; central utility plant optimization and energy systems in large campus and hospital settings; designing and evaluating Building Automation systems; building Automation systems in healthcare facilities; reviewing and commenting on AE design documents; reviewing contractor submittals and RFIs, and providing authoritative interpretation on governing codes and safety issues to meet certification standards; developing guidance and implementing policy directives on Building Automation systems issues in support of owner's Construction Program; developing and conducting technical training sessions to various project stakeholder groups. [NOTE: Evidence of this specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of like duties performed in positions held on your resume. You will also need to provide work experience information such as hours per week, salary, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of specialized experience at the required grade level].

This position includes a Quality Ranking Factor (QFR) - are knowledge, skills, and abilities/competencies that could be expected to significantly enhance performance in a position but are not essential for satisfactory performance. Applicants who possess such KSAs/competencies may be ranked above those who do not, but no one may be rated ineligible solely for failure to possess such KSAs/competencies.

The Quality Ranking Factor (QFR) is current professional certification/registration relevant to building automation systems.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Analysis and Problem Solving

• Communications

• General Engineering

• Technical Competence

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; religions; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Education

There is no educational substitution for this position; however, you must meet Basic Occupational Requirement for the General Engineering series 0801

A. Degree: Professional Engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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) statistics, 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. [COPY OF BACHELOR'S DEGREE TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED WITH APPLICATION]

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].

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.

Additional information

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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• Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.