Summary

This position is part of the WAPA-DSW-Desert Southwest The primary purpose of this position is to develop and implement studies, plans, and programs related to engineering design, construction, and operation of an electrical transmission system. If selection is made at a lower grade, promotion up to the full performance level may be made without further competition. However, promotion(s) are at the discretion of the supervisor and are not guaranteed.

**THIS IS NOT A REMOTE POSITION.**

Duties

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As an Electrical Engineer (Protection) developmental, some of your duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Develops tests and trouble-shoots procedures for protection equipment used by craftsmen.
• Designs (or reviews designs of others), implements and commissions major parts of, or a completely new protection and control system for a substation.
• Provides technical support to craft employees and others during the installation and commission of the power system and updates the as-built drawings.
• Reviews settings provided by Western CSO and utilities interconnected to Western's power system to ensure coordination.
• Develops fixes and enhancements resulting from work and creates logic and control settings.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period. Employees serving on a probationary or trial period may be terminated at any time during the probationary or trial period for performance, conduct, or business-related reasons in the interest of Federal service.
• In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration.
• Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications..
• Shift work and emergency overtime may be required.
• Employee may be required to work other than normal duty hours, to include evenings, weekends and/or holidays.
• Total salary varies depending on location of position.

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.

Applicants must meet the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for the 0800 Series:

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

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)2 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.)

To qualify at the GS-7: In addition to meeting the IOR for the 0800 series, applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-5 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. This experience includes all the following:

• Applying basic engineering knowledge and judgment in the selection, interpretation, and application of relevant rules, standard procedures, or precedents.
• Researching and specifying equipment or devices for which design criteria are standardized or well established by applying standard engineering practices, components, and circuit design approaches.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: One (1) year of graduate-level education or Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A) See NOTE under the EDUCATION section.

OR

A combination of education and experience to successfully perform the duties of the position.

To qualify for the GS-9: In addition to meeting the IOR for the 0800 series, applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-7 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. This experience includes all the following:

• Applying practical knowledge of electrical engineering concepts, principles, and methodology to perform routine engineering projects related to power systems operations, transmission planning, and/or power systems reliability, and
• Performing design calculations and circuit analysis.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Master's degree or Master's or equivalent graduate degree, if related.

OR

A combination of education and experience as described above to successfully perform the duties of the position.

To qualify for the GS-11: In addition to meeting the IOR for the 0800 Series, applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. This experience includes all the following:

• Performing duties in design, installation, maintenance, and commissioning of system protection relays and their associated planning, design, maintenance, repair and construction activities.
• Performing protective relay setting development and coordination.
• Performing project coordination and developing task order design scopes of work.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related.

OR

A combination of education and experience as described above to successfully perform the duties of the position.

To qualify for the GS-12: In addition to meeting the IOR for the 0800 series, applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. This experience includes all the following:

• Processing relay settings or drawings for development in transmission systems.
• Assisting in the operation or maintenance work practices associated with major electrical apparatus, protective relays, and/or outdoor substation equipment, metering equipment, and communication systems.
• Serving as a project leader and technical expert on system protection and metering issues, including additions, replacements, and modifications to equipment and facilities.

To qualify for the GS-13: In addition to meeting the IOR for the 0800 series, applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. This experience includes all the following:

• Calculating protective relay settings for high voltage transmission systems (up to 500 kV) and/or coordinating with utilities or performing event analysis.
• Serving as a project leader and technical expert on system protection and metering issues, including additions, replacements, and modifications to equipment and facilities.
• Having compliance responsibility for the use of NERC, WECC/MRO reliability standards or CIP standards.

See NOTE on "experience" under the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section.

Education

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. Unofficial transcripts denoting a degree was awarded or conferred is acceptable; however, the formal transcripts must be provided before a final offer of employment is rendered.

NOTE: S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.

Class standing Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.

Grade-point average (G.P.A.) Applicants must have a grade-point average of:

3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or

3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.

Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9.

Additional information

• This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE.
• For general information on government-wide Telework polices visit: www.telework.gov.
• Applicants may request Reasonable Accommodation (RA) when applying or competing for a job due to a medical condition or to exercise religious beliefs. If you need reasonable accommodation in the application or selection process, please contact the Agency Contact listed on this vacancy announcement.
• If selection is made at a lower grade, promotion up to the full performance level may be made without further competition. However, promotion(s) will depend on the performance of the incumbent and are not guaranteed.
• Promotion Potential: This is a developmental position with the full performance level.at the GS-13.
• The selectee for this position may be eligible to receive a recruitment or relocation incentive. You will need to sign an employment agreement to be eligible for this incentive.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs are not authorized.
• This position may be eligible for creditable service towards annual 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. DOE 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 determi