Environmental Engineer

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (OCAO), Safety and Environmental Compliance Office (SECO), with one vacancy in Silver Spring, MD. This position is also announced under vacancy number CAO SEC-27-13094564-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

• As an Environmental Engineer, you will perform the following duties: Serve as an environmental compliance technical expert within National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Safety and Environmental Compliance Office performing environmental management duties as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for environmental projects throughout NOAA. Develop NOAA-wide environmental compliance policies and procedures, reports, guidance documents and corrective action documents. Perform environmental assessments and regulatory review of NOAA facilities for compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Provide environmental technical expertise, training, and consultation to NOAA facility managers and functional support staff to ensure NOAA projects are in compliance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the 0819 series: EDUCATION: 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: Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), 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. 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. 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. 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.) Note: An applicant who meets the basic requirements as specified in A or B above, except as noted under B.1., may qualify for positions in any branch of engineering unless selective factors indicate otherwise. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. To qualify at the ZP-4 or GS-13 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-3 or GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Applying environmental compliance statutes and regulations, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and The Clean Water Act (CWA) to a project or program; Planning environmental projects and performing duties associated with executing contract actions; and Performing audits, assessments, or regulatory reviews for compliance with federal, state or local environmental regulations.

Announcement details

• Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce)
• Announcement number: CAO SEC-27-13094565-DE
• Series: 0819 Environmental Engineering
• Pay plan and grade: ZP 4
• Pay: $121,785 – $187,093 Per Year
• Open to: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL); Open to the public; Veterans
• Open period: October 21, 2026 to October 27, 2026 (US Eastern)

Apply on the official USAJOBS announcement. Application instructions on USAJOBS take precedence over this summary.