Engineering Technician

Description:

This position is located in the Facility Support Services (FSS) Engineering department of the El Paso VA Healthcare System. The incumbent serves as a consultant to the General Engineers and to the Chief, Facility Support Service (FSS). The incumbent provides direction and review of professional and technical programs; professional engineering work in several disciplines, such as civil, electrical, mechanical, biomedical, environmental, and safety engineering.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• BASIC REQUIREMENT: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include technical work in: drafting, surveying construction estimating, physical science, mathematics, aerospace, architecture, chemicals, electrical or mechanical systems, mining, petroleum, or nuclear systems.
• Experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work provided intensive knowledge of engineering principles, techniques, methods, and precedents. Examples are trade positions with substantial developmental, test, or design responsibilities such as:
  • Planner and estimator who analyzed designs for production purposes.
  • Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated.

In addition to the individual occupational requirements, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of building codes and standards; knowledge of construction practices; requirements for asbestos management; drafting; use of personal computers and AutoCad program. MUST BE ABLE TO DO THE FOLLOWING: prepare, read and interpret engineering and structural drawings and specification; knowledge of building materials; prepare detailed cost estimates utilizing cost estimating software and Excel; inspects building materials and workmanship; uses construction engineering equipment (calculators, transits, levels and squares, measuring instruments, etc); communicates with contractors, contracting officers and management officials; monitors complete construction projects; prepares reports; and knowledge of safety procedures and fire protection. OR,
• Education: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above ONLY in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. I have two full years of graduate education or a master's degree to meet the requirement at the GS-9 grade level in an appropriate field of engineering, construction, or industrial technology (Transcripts Required). OR,
• Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education beyond a Bachelor's degree is qualifying. Education must be in an appropriate field of engineering, construction, or industrial technology (Transcripts Required).

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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ .