Summary

Serves as the Chief of Engineering for the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (FHWA) in Ashburn, VA. Provides executive leadership and direction for over 200 professional, technical, and administrative employees across environmental, project management, design, construction, and contract management functions. Oversees daily operations and ensures the successful delivery of transportation projects and technical services supporting Federal Lands transportation programs.

Duties

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As a Supervisory Civil Engineer (Highway)(Chief of Engineering), you will:

• Lead and manage the Office of Engineering, overseeing a multidisciplinary staff of 125+ personnel supporting project development, design, construction, and contract management.
• Direct development and delivery of the Division's engineering program, ensuring effective coordination of transportation projects, technical services, and engineering products across Federal Lands programs.
• Provide executive leadership for a $150M-$250M annual design and construction program across multiple Federal, State, and Tribal partners, ensuring timely, cost-effective, and compliant project delivery.
• Serve as principal advisor and technical authority on highway engineering, providing guidance, interpreting regulations, and ensuring compliance with 23 U.S.C. and applicable standards.
• Lead coordination with Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners and represent the Division in interagency forums, advancing technology deployment, training, quality assurance, and program innovation.

The ideal candidate for this position is an experienced engineering leader who is mission-focused, and skilled in the administration and delivery of complex Federal Lands Highway programs. This individual has strong experience in transportation engineering, project development, and managing large-scale programs and multidisciplinary staff. The ideal candidate demonstrates the ability to lead a complex organization, deliver a significant annual design and construction program, and achieve successful outcomes across multiple partners and jurisdictions. They have a proven record of building collaborative relationships within FHWA, Federal Lands Highway, and with Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners. In addition, the ideal candidate brings strong technical expertise, experience with contracting approaches, and the ability to resolve complex technical and stakeholder issues.

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

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the mandatory education and specialized experience requirements.

This position has a Selective Factor, you must meet this in order to be considered:

• You must posses a current and valid PE License.

To qualify for the Grade 15, in addition to the Selective Factor, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-14, it must include:

• Experience leading the development and implementation of engineering program plans, policies, and technical guidance to support organizational and program priorities; AND
• Experience providing technical guidance for transportation engineering programs, including project development, design, construction, contract management, and related engineering functions; AND
• Experience managing transportation engineering programs and/or capital investment programs involving partners, and funding sources; AND
• Experience overseeing and managing a workforce of professional, technical, and administrative staff, including subordinate supervisors, and developing workforce plans and executing personnel management responsibilities.

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:

• Civil Engineering - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods required to plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain facilities such as buildings, transportation systems, water and sanitary systems, and other public works systems.
• Human Capital Management - Builds and manages workforce based on organizational goals, budget considerations, and staffing needs. Ensures that employees are appropriately recruited, selected, appraised, and rewarded; takes action to address performance problems. Manages a multi-sector workforce and a variety of work situations.
• Leadership - Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
• Project Management - Knowledge of the principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing projects and resources, including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, and contractor performance.

For all types of consideration, 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/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

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.

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 windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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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.