Summary Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Mechanical Engineer (Recent Graduate). You can make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment. Responsibilities Engineering Analysis- Performs engineering analyses to include performing and/or coordinating technical planning activities; data collection (including validation and management); design; modeling and data analyses; analyses of site location and/or conditions; troubleshooting mechanical equipment and systems; and risk estimation and analyses. Documentation and Presentation- Prepares and reviews technical documentation such as technical memorandums and reports, engineering study analyses and results, correspondence, etc. Investigations, Assessments, and/or Inspections- Plans, schedules, coordinates, and conducts mechanical engineering facility examinations, reviews, and/or inspections which include conducting condition assessments and construction and transfer inspections. Other Duties: Project Management, Administration of contracts and agreements, Database Operation. GS-05: Serves as a basic entry-level trainee mechanical engineer. Assignments are like those assigned to non-professional employees, but such tasks are primarily for training purposes, and, in some cases, to relieve higher-grade engineers of routine work. GS-07: Serves as an advanced entry-level trainee mechanical engineer. Assignments are primarily for training purposes, and, in some cases, to relieve higher-grade engineers of routine work. GS-09: Serves as an advanced trainee mechanical engineer. Participates with higher graded engineer in planning and accomplishment of specific work assignments. Performs design and layout of mechanical equipment systems such as plumbing, heating, air conditioning, steam distribution, etc. GS-11: Serves as a journey level Mechanical Engineer performing a full range of conventional, journey level assignments. Requirements Conditions of Employment Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship. 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 www.dhs.gov/EVerify/. Must have and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. You are required to wear a uniform and comply with the uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority. You must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program. Recent Graduates will enter a formal training program with a mentor and execute an Individual Development Plan outlining training requirements and program expectations. Recent Graduates must receive at least 40 hours of formal training directly linked to their employment field. Recent Graduates will be required to sign a Pathways Recent Graduate Participant Agreement. Recent Graduate applicants must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement, 08/20/2026. To be eligible, you must meet one of the following: A student that has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution. Certain exceptions to the two-year limitation will be made for veterans who, due to military service obligations, were precluded from applying to the Program during the two-year eligibility period. OR, An individual who has completed a qualifying career or technical education program which may include Registered Apprenticeship Programs, Job Corps, Climate Corps, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps or specific Volunteer Service Programs. Qualifications Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/20/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To receive credit for experience, 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND/OR 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: A. Degree: I possess a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in 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. You must submit transcripts. -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, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelors 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. Applicants that meet the basic qualification requirements minimally qualify for the GS-05 grade level. -AND- To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level: Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Perform trainee level duties to assist higher-graded engineers in data collection, designs; knowledge of mechanical engineering concepts. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least one full academic year of graduate level education (18 semester hours) in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as Mechanical Engineering. You must include transcripts. -OR- Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor's degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society. Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. Continued below in Education Education Qualifications Continued... To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Provide support to higher-graded engineers in reviewing inspection data of equipment/systems; knowledge of mechanical engineering concepts; experience developing mechanical engineering designs and plans for mechanical utility systems using computer software. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least a masters or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years (36 semester hours) of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position, such as Mechanical Engineering. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level: Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Performing more independent data collection, designs, preparing cost estimates, and engineering duties concerned with design, construction, maintenance and operation for hydroelectric powerplants, pumping plant, dams, reservoirs, canal structures, various offices and shop facilities; knowledge of mechanical engineering concepts; perform inspections and investigation of equipment/systems. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years (54 semester hours) of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position, such as Mechanical Engineering. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. 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. This position has a mandatory education requirement. You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A @typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification Additional Information Individuals serving in Recent Graduate appointments may be non-competitively converted to a permanent position with the Bureau of Reclamation upon successful completion of the program, but conversion is neither promised nor guaranteed. To be eligible for conversion to a permanent or term position, these Recent Graduates must also: Be a U.S. Citizen or National; Have completed at least one year of continuous service; Have demonstrated successful job performance as documented by a rating of record (or summary rating) of at least Fully Successful or equivalent; Be recommended for conversion by their manager or supervisor; Meet the Office of Personnel Management's qualification standards for the position to which the Intern will be converted (which may include a positive education requirement); and Meet all agency and program specific requirements as specified in their individual Participant Agreement. If converted to a permanent or term appointment, the anticipated target position is Mechanical Engineer, full performance level GS-0830-11; however, that may change based on the need of the organization at that time. The full performance level of the target position will be dependent on the @type of position and will be determined at the time of conversion. Recent Graduates converted to a term position in the competitive service may subsequently be non-competitively converted to a career or career-conditional appointment without further competition. Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year trial period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated. This trial 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 trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. The duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
