Engineering Technician

Engineering Technician Position

The Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas is seeking a highly qualified candidate for an Engineering Technician position in Wichita. The duties of the Engineering Technician consist of but are not limited to the following:

• Assist consulting architects and engineers (AE's) with design of competitively bid construction and maintenance and repair work.
• Provide consultants access to existing as built drawings, field measurements, construction standards, and construction specifications relevant to the project scope.
• Serve as Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), inspecting competitively bid construction, maintenance, and repair construction projects to ensure compliance with drawings and specifications.
• Submit project applications and makes project tracking report (PTR) updates into the appropriate database.
• Review and/or prepare construction documents (CD's) and detailed cost estimates for competitively bid construction projects and maintenance repair work.
• Work with General Contractor to resolve problems that arise due to design errors or differing site conditions.
• Evaluate AE design and construction projects for capitalization of project costs.

Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm Monday - Friday

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Engineering Technician/PD02044A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.

Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.

Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.

Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/14/2025. 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-11 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-10. 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.

The Engineering Technical Series, 802, has an Individual Occupation Requirement per OPM. This series covers technical positions supervising, leading, or performing work involving applying a practical knowledge of the: methods and techniques of engineering or architecture; and construction, application, properties, operations, and limitations of engineering systems, processes, structures, machinery, devices, and materials.

To meet the basic requirements, you must have Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 or equivalent and above.) 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 or Instrument maker or model maker who performed design or development work on devices fabricated.

There is no Education and Training substitution for the IOR at the GS-11 grade level. Engineering technicians may be certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, an organization sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Certification by the Institute will be helpful as a measure of the technician's quality of experience.

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-10 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Reviewing and/or preparing construction documents and detailed cost estimates for construction projects.
• Reviewing shop drawings from contractors for compliance with specifications.
• Performing Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) duties.
• Coordinating projects from conception to completion.
• Preparing construction progress reports.
• Managing construction. either general construction or a specific discipline of a construction project.

Driver's License Requirement: Applicants must possess a valid, unrestricted State driver's license, have a safe driving record, and demonstrate that he or she is medically qualified to operate the appropriate motor vehicle safely. Applicants are required to pass agency Government Vehicle Drivers physical examination.

NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore; please do not submit a copy of your driver's license with your application package. If an interview is requested, you may be required to provide a copy of your valid state-issued driver's license.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, although there is some walking in offices, production areas, utility plants, maintenance, and work areas. Work may involve carrying lightweight item, such as briefcases, notebooks, test equipment, and work papers, or operating a motor vehicle. The work does not require any special physical effort or ability.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment.

You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional Information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in