Civil Engineer (Hydraulics)

You will serve as a Civil Engineer (Hydraulics) with Bureau of Reclamation. Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Civil Engineer (Hydraulics). You can make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment. Provides expert technical analyses, review, mentoring, and advice as a technical specialist in hydraulics and fluid mechanics in areas such as performance of spillways, outlet works, gates and valves, hydraulic equipment, penstocks, turbines, canals, flow measurement devices, and fish passage and protection features. Performs analyses related to complex hydraulic engineering problems such as cavitation, transients in pipelines, air entrainment, energy dissipation, canal operation and control, and environmental hydraulics by planning, directing, and conducting laboratory studies with working scale models, numerical models, and field investigations. Serves as the research team leader, developing and promoting the development of new technologies, methods, and standards of practice to advance the state-of-the-art in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics, and proposing, planning, and directing hydraulic research, including laboratory, numerical, and field studies. Prepares and presents written reports, research proposals, and publications, and performs peer review of technical studies, issues, and findings. Consults and coordinates with Reclamation staff, stakeholders, and external entities to resolve technical questions related to hydraulic design and performance, presents highly technical results and analyses, and serves on technical and interagency committees. Directs, trains, and mentors less experienced staff on engineering activities in the laboratory and field required for model development and testing, such as advising on methods, data collection, and analyses. Leads technical teams and develops, monitors, and manages project plans for large hydraulic studies including outlining project scope, schedule, and budget, and coordinating and communicating with other groups or offices. Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement • 09/29/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: Basic 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)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, maybe 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. Specialized Experience One year of specialized experience equivalent in responsibility and scope to the GS-13 grade level which must include: developing and conducting complex hydraulic engineering assessments that involve physical hydraulic modeling, numerical modeling, hydraulic field investigations, and/or hydraulic analyses; serving as a technical advisor or consultant in the area of hydraulic engineering; utilizing communication skills that include written technical documents and oral presentations; possessing project management experience such as leading a team, project, or program, creating and maintaining project schedules and budgets, and writing proposals and funding requests. Volunteer Experience: 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. Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Direct Deposit participation required. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. Must have a current Professional Engineer (PE) license by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will 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. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. This position does not allow substituting education for experience. This position has a mandatory education requirement.