General Engineer (Special Projects)

Created at: July 02, 2025 00:10

Company: Office of the Secretary of Defense

Location: Falls Church, VA, 22040

Job Description:

This position is located in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). The USD(R&E) serves as the Chief Technology Officer and is responsible for research, development, and prototyping activities within the Department of Defense (DoD).
For qualifications determinations, it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the length of your creditable experience for qualification requirements, you will be removed from consideration. Read more about what should I include in my federal resume? at https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/ You may qualify at the NH-04 (GS-14/15) level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: General Engineering Series, 0801: 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)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.) AND In addition to the IOR, you may qualify at the NH-04 (equivalent to the GS-14/15) level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the NH-03 (equivalent to the GS-13) grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector): 1) Developing programs to enhance the operability, lethality, and/or cybersecurity of U.S. warfighting weapon systems; 2) providing subject-matter expertise, particularly in warfighting technologies, to evaluate top-tier capability developments; 3) delivering technical assessments to provide recommended innovative approaches and capabilities to address critical joint warfighting capability gaps; 4) and coordinating high-level meetings with diverse stakeholders, ensuring effective communication and collaboration. 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. Current or Former Political Appointees: Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office. Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment: Position title; Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee); Agency; and, Beginning and ending dates of appointment. All qualifications and education requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.
Incumbent typical work assignments may include the following: Conceiving, developing, managing, and integrating compartmented capability development programs to enhance the operability, lethality, and cybersecurity of current and future U.S. warfighting weapon systems. Providing subject-matter expertise, particularly in warfighting technologies and supporting infrastructure for the evaluation of proposed top-tier capability developments. Delivering technical assessments and analysis to provide recommended innovative approaches, technologies, and capabilities to address near-term and future critical joint warfighting capability gaps. Identifying risks, technical issues, and programmatic shortfalls and recommending corrective courses of action. Providing and managing technical support for compartmented warfighting capability development, integration, and transition of new technologies that close time-critical gaps in high-priority and multi-component warfighting missions.


See details

Back to jobs