Duties

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The Fire Protection Engineer will operate and maintain all buildings and spaces to protect Smithsonian employees, property, and mission from losses that may be incurred in the event of a fire.

In this position, you will:

• Review design and construction project drawings and specifications to evaluate adequacy of both fire protection and life safety to a wide variety of building and occupancy types.
• Apply current national building and fire codes in developing prescriptive and performance-based approaches to solving various fire protection and life safety issues.
• Develop fire protection and life safety policies and programs based on established standards and tailored to the needs of an organization or jurisdiction.
• Provide fire protection/life safety training and presentations to diverse groups, both large and small.
• Prepare reports using proper grammar and context. Prepare technical reports at the conclusion of inspections of SI facilities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement

• 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 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) 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.

In addition to the basic education requirement above:

Experience:

GS-11: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as:

1. Applying fire protection engineering principles in design review and construction oversight;
2. Conducting risk assessment surveys;
3. Performing, or evaluating performance-based engineering analyses; and
4. Preparing fire protection engineering reports.

Or Education: Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree directly related to this position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

GS-12: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as:

1. Conducting fire safety surveys of a variety of buildings;
2. Applying a broad range of fire and building codes and standards to various types of facilities;
3. Developing risk assessments;
4. Applying fire protection principles and techniques, including the use of performance-based engineering analysis to solve complex fire protection issues;
5. Reviewing drawings and specifications for building construction and renovation to ensure compliance with current standards for fire protection and life safety.

GS-13: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as:

1. Conducting fire safety surveys of a variety of buildings; applying abroad range of fire and building codes and standards to various types of facilities;
2. Developing risk assessments;
3. Applying fire protection principles and techniques, including the use of performance-based engineering analysis to independently solve complex fire protection issues;
4. Reviewing drawings and specifications for building construction and renovation to ensure compliance with current standards for fire protection and life safety; and
5. Serving as a consultant on fire protection and prevention to upper levels of management, engineers, and other personnel.

Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual experience.

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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Education

Basic Education Requirement

• 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 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) 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.

Additional information

This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.

Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.

Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.

Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/

Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp

Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp

Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp

Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com

Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/