Summary This position is located in the Architect of the Capitol, Senate Office Buildings, Facilities Support Division. The selectee serves as engineering consultant and advisor and provides professional guidance on moderately difficult fire prevention operations, practices, techniques, procedures, national codes, etc., in support of the planning, engineering design, and construction oversight for the repair and improvement of existing facilities. Responsibilities This position is emergency essential. Depending on the type of emergency the employee may be required to report to work during emergency situations. Fire Protection Engineering: Serves as an expert fire protection engineer with responsibility for developing procedures, methods, designs, plans, and specifications for fire prevention, fire protection, and fire detection in historical buildings of major size and complexity. Interprets Life Safety Code requirements for application and relevance and writes technical and administrative policies Analyzes and compiles data from property loss and damage by fire in order to determine causes of fire. Evaluates effectiveness of prevention and protection measures for facilities. Interprets Life Safety Code requirements for application and relevance and writes technical and administrative policies Fire Protection Program Management: Serves as professional authority for plans and specifications of new construction; modification, alteration, or additions to buildings, structures, and utilities; for technical sufficiency of incorporated fire prevention and protection facilities. Recommends approval of specifications and drawings, samples, and material certifications submitted by contractors for contract and performance requirements. Prepares correspondence, technical reports, estimates, fact sheets, status reports, and schedules as required to complete project assignment. As COTR, prepares scopes of work, independent government estimates (IGEs), and actively manages maintenance and preventative maintenance contracts related to life safety, fire suppression systems, sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, etc. Coordinates with other engineers and architects in design development to ensure that all technical areas are covered, areas of overlapping responsibilities between technical disciplines receive proper design consideration, and that the total project objectives and schedules are met. Consults with construction contractor personnel to resolve difficult and complex unforeseen problems and latent conditions developing during construction and, based on the condition, prepares sketches or change drawings and specifications solving the problem and incorporates these change documents into the contract performance documents. Develops the designs, plans, and specifications for fire protection and fire detection systems of major size and complexity for use in structures, buildings, and facilities including various types of industrial shops and multi-story administrative support buildings. Serves as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) on assigned projects. Performs other related duties as assigned. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen. You must be able to pass a drug test. Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs. You must meet the definition of specialized experience. You must meet education requirements for Engineers. To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below: A citizen of the United States; A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B); A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible; A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States. Qualifications You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Candidates for the GS-12 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as having experience in 4 the following 5: 1) Oversees and evaluating complex fire protection delivery systems. 2) Conducts fire safety surveys of government buildings. 3) Consults with construction contractor personnel to resolve difficult and complex unforeseen problems 4) Participates in design and design reviews for fire protection engineering aspects of facilities and construction projects. 5.) Inspects facilities to assess compliance with OSHA policies and/or NFPA standards Candidates for the GS-13 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Specialized experience is defined as having experience in all of the following: 1) Oversees and evaluating complex fire protection delivery systems. 2) Conducts fire safety surveys of government buildings. 3) Consults with construction contractor personnel to resolve difficult and complex unforeseen problems 4) Participates in design and design reviews for fire protection engineering aspects of facilities and construction projects. 5) Inspects facilities to assess compliance with OSHA policies and/or NFPA standards Education In addition to the required specialized experience, you must meet the following: The Ideal candidate has a Fire Protection Engineering degree. Requirements for Engineers: A. Degree: professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; 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.) For additional information on General Schedule Qualifications Standards for professional engineering positions, please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part of foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing if selected. ***A copy of your transcript(s) will be required upon selection*** Additional Information Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit http://www.opm.gov/veterans/html/vetguide.asp#6. If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information. DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC’s suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position who is not currently an AOC employee is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide, and cover the cost for the drug test. The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc\_1185221678150.shtm The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, genetic information, sexual orientation and/or disability. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis. Moving expenses are not authorized. Relocation expenses are not authorized. Probationary Period- A newly appointed selectee(s) is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency. This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol. All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.