Summary This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, BIA Southwest Region, Office of the Regional Director, Deputy Regional Director Trust Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The incumbent will be the designated liaison staff advisor and will perform difficult complex tasks related to professional engineering and hydrology work on irrigation, water forecasting, water rights, and water delivery. Responsibilities Serves as an authoritative source of knowledge, advice and counsel on water rights issues. Serves as the representative in matters pertaining to land operations and maintenance work by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and other contractors. Assures timely preparation and completion of information for witnesses use prior to and at hearings. Performs analysis of water use issues, prepares written reports, and provides oral briefings. Conducts contract monitoring and coordination with tribes. Presents water analysis to Federal, State, and Tribal officials. Advises the Regional Director on Rio Grande water supply decisions. Evaluates water proposals, develops alternatives, and presents recommendations to facilitate accomplishment of goals and objectives. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Group Coverage Qualification Standards for Professional and Scientific Positions; Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for General Engineering Series, Qualification Standards for GS-0800 IOR for Professional Engineering Positions and 1315 Hydrology Series Basic Requirements: For General Engineering 0801 Series: Degree: 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 Combination of education and experience-- 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), 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) 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.) For Hydrology Series 1315 Series: A. Degree: physical or natural science, or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in any combination of courses in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soils, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources. The course work must have included at least 6 semester hours in calculus (including both differential and integral calculus), and at least 6 semester hours in physics. Calculus and physics, as described above, are requirements for all grade levels, OR B. Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. ADDITIONAL SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: In addition to meeting the basic entry level qualification requirements, applicants must have the following: GS-14: Qualifying is one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal service. Examples may include work in the realm of water resources related programs such as irrigation, operations & maintenance, water supply, water storage, water diversions and water management: analyze and interpret complex technical data, legal documents, legislation, executive orders and secretarial orders; formulate and present complex policy issues; plan, organize, and coordinate project assignments; advise and consult on complex matters related to planning, design, construction, environmental administer contracts and resolve complex issues; prepare data and address complex water issues and provide recommendation; prepare reports in support of environment and engineering issues such as drought and water management plans and irrigation system improvements; perform presentations to a variety of audiences such as tribes, local governments, advisory committees, commissions and public; prepare, address, negotiate and recommend solutions to highly complex and controversial issues. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472). Education If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION Additional Information This position is advertised with ST-25-12644841-CAWZ-RH and applies competitive procedures. All new hires earn the beginning salary of their pay grade (Step 1). See 2024 Salary Tables and select the pay chart for Albuquerque, New Mexico. If no specific chart is listed for this geographic location, see the "rest of U.S." chart. The full performance level of this position is None. TELEWORK: Indian Affairs has determined that the duties of the position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval. CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .