Summary

This position is located in the Architect of the Capitol, Office of the Chief Engineer, Planning and Design Division, Planning, Energy, and Architecture Branch, Fire Protection and Mechanical Engineering Section. The selectee will be responsible for carrying out projects involving the design, installation, replacement, modernization, inspection and testing of central heating, cooling, and plumbing systems.

Duties

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** Duties quoted at the GS-12 grade level. This is a career ladder position requiring the incumbent to perform progressively more complex duties and responsibilities leading to the full performance level.

The individual selected for this position will perform the following:

Design and Development

• Directs leading-edge design for a variety of mechanical systems focused on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, plumbing, energy and water conservation, Building Automation System (BAS) and indoor air quality (IAQ).
• Ensures adherence to design schedules, material deliveries and construction schedules and reviews job progress and conformance to specifications.
• Coordinate and serves as a design expert for project managers and others to analyze design requirements where there are conflicting and inadequate guidelines and ensures that all technical areas are covered
• Assists with the development design concepts, calculations, field reviews, preparation of final drawings and performs construction oversight and coordination as required on each assigned project.
• Conducts research to develop improved designs of mechanical equipment and systems.
• Coordinates with building superintendents and their staff to schedule construction projects.
• Participates in commissioning reviews for building systems and equipment, from those associated with small in-house designs, to large projects which have assigned commissioning agents.
• Prepares Statements of Work (SOW) for a wide range of engineering projects, either in the form of an invitation for bid or a purchase requisition. Determines the requirements for equipment to be procured through the bidding process, obtains pricing and submittal data and determines the successful bidder based on the technical adequacy of the submission.
• Determines proper HVAC performance of a completed project, as required during the investigative portion of a project or, as assigned.
• Prepares, revises and maintains Computer Aided Design (CAD) graphic data for use in mechanical equipment and systems design.
• Coordinates with other building system disciplines, such as electrical, fire protection, and structural.

Technical Advice and Guidance

• Collaborates with management and planning personnel, and other building systems disciplines in preparing requirements and criteria for complex or high value projects concerning a variety of HVAC and plumbing engineering, automatic controls and energy conservation issues in sizes and complexity from small up to major.
• Serves as a mentor and provides guidance to entry-level engineers.
• Performs complex calculations and designs and specifications or directs and advises other engineers and technicians in the design and specification of individual systems, components and details in HVAC and plumbing engineering.
• Serves as a staff expert for energy and water conservation, HVAC, direct digital controls and plumbing projects of major size and complexity.
• Participates in planning conferences with project engineers to provide necessary information pertaining to HVAC and plumbing.
• Reviews or directs the review of the mechanical features of scopes of work, plans, specifications and analyses of design, as submitted by contracted and/or in-house engineers for technical competency and approves such plans, specifications and analyses where the authority is The Fire Protection and Mechanical Engineering Branch.
• Responds to request for information from contractors.

Contractor Oversight for Projects

• Serves as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR), guiding and evaluating contractor efforts and assessing technical performance in relation to the established schedules and resources allotted.
• Reviews plans, specifications and cost estimates for adequacy.
• Reports progress and/or problems. Directs necessary changes, resolves controversial problems, ensures conformance to plans and specifications.
• Evaluates the compliance of contractor proposals with contract plans and specifications.
• Monitors contract specifications for progress and technical requirements.
• Assists in generating project bulletins and evaluating change orders.

Project Management

• Accomplishes complex project management duties in participation with project teams and makes decisions affecting areas of accountability that are controversial.
• Serves as the technical authority (Project Manager and/or Task Leader) for HVAC, plumbing, Direct Digital Control (DDC) controls and conservation projects of major size and complexity.
• Reviews or directs the review of the mechanical features of plans, specifications and analyses of design for accuracy and technical competency, and approves with the scope of authority.

Report and Documentation

• Gathers information and formulates mechanical engineering reports relating to significant issues and presents or explains the agency decisions in terms of policies and priorities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be able to pass a drug test.
• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• You must meet education requirements for Engineers.

To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:

• A citizen of the United States;
• A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);
• A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;
• A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or
• A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at OPM qualification standards

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

For the GS-11:

Candidates for the GS-11 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-09) grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience for the GS-11 position must demonstrate the following:

• Supporting project managers and assisting in the design of mechanical engineering projects focused on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, plumbing, energy and water conservation, Building Automation System (BAS), and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for buildings and facilities.
• Preparing design documents and providing technical advice on the design, installation, testing, acquisition and evaluation efforts for mechanical systems and equipment for buildings and facilities.
• Serving as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent for mechanical engineering projects.

OR

3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree: Major study in architecture, engineering, building construction, or other fields related to the position.

OR

Combination of specialized experience and education.

For the GS-12:

Candidates for the GS-12 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-11) grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience for the GS-12 position includes the following:

• Designing and/or leading mechanical engineering projects focused on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, plumbing, energy and water conservation, Building Automation System (BAS), and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for buildings and facilities.
• Planning design work, developing requirements and providing technical advice on the design, installation, testing, acquisition and evaluation efforts for mechanical systems and equipment for buildings and facilities.
• Serving as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent and/or performing contract/construction administration to ensure adequate oversight of contractor performance for mechanical engineering projects.

For the GS-13:

Candidates for the GS-13 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-12) grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience for the GS-13 position includes the following:

• Designing and/or leading mechanical engineering projects focused on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, plumbing, energy and water conservation, Building Automation System (BAS), and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for buildings and facilities;
• Planning design work, developing requirements and providing technical advice on the design, installation, testing, acquisition and evaluation efforts for mechanical systems and equipment for buildings and facilities;
• Serving as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent and/or performing contract/construction administration to ensure adequate oversight of contractor performance for mechanical engineering projects;
• Providing expert advices to senior colleagues and/or agency officials responsible for broad program operations;
• Providing significant and innovative recommendations for advancing programs and/or methods.

Education

In addition to meeting the specialized experience requirements, applicants must have the following:

Basic Requirements for all grade levels:

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: (a) current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico; (b) evidence of having successfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration; (c) successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences that are fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum; or (d) successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education:

Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment.

Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part of foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree.

You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing if selected.

Additional information

Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Depa