Summary You will serve as a MECHANICAL ENGINEER in the Submarine Mechanical and Piping Branch (Code 265), Mechanical Engineering Division, Engineering and Planning Department at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. Duties You will provide technical guidance for and prepare procedures for overhauling and conducting tests on various mechanical components and Seawater systems. | You will develop, maintain, and communicate completion dates for staff work regarding various phases of an assigned  project to satisfy production requirements. | You will coordinate the efforts of the assigned engineers and technicians to ensure scheduled dates are met. | You will establish all operational parameters such as head, speed, pressures, capacity etc required to demonstrate proper performance and reliability of Seawater and Steering and Diving systems for all class of submarines. | You will prepare specifications and provide direction for the procurement of special material. | You will serve as a technical consultant for acceptable substitutes for materials which are not available.
Qualifications
In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following:
- Experience performing engineering services included but not limited to: Knowledge of the Advanced Industrial Management (AIM) database to support development of Job Summary and Task Group Instructions, Material identification, selection, and procurement utilizing various databases including the development of Job Material Lists (JMLs), Develop detailed technical guidance based on specifications, working plans, calculations to ensure compliance with specifications and quality requirements.
- Experience demonstrating knowledge of Submarine secondary propulsion plant systems that include but are not limited to lube oil and hydraulic oil systems, stowage, handling, and distribution and cleanliness of those systems. Steering and Diving Systems including all associated mechanical component, equipment and hardware for operation of external control surfaces. Plumbing, Potable Water, Trim and Drain, Hovering and Depth Control, Auxiliary, Gravity, and Cavity Drain Systems and their associated components.
- Experience in developing technical work documents for the Submarine secondary propulsion plant systems including performance of specialized inspections of hull and back-up valves, ultrasonic inspection of system piping.
- Experience developing manning estimates, support development of production work schedules.
- Experience acting as a troubleshooter to identify and develop technical resolutions associated with mechanical component repair based on visual inspections, reports and test results ensuring compliance to technical and quality requirements..
- Experience demonstrating specific knowledge of special emphasis programs such as SUBSAFE, Level I, Steam Plant Cleanliness, Deep Submergence Systems - Scope of Certification (DSS-SOC).
Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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. Education Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual.
Applicants must possess:
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
A transcript must be submitted with your application if qualifying using education. See Required Documents for additional information.
How you will be evaluated In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.
When the application process is complete, we will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and application package, along with your supporting documentation to determine your ability to demonstrate the following competencies:
- DEVELOPING OTHERS
- MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
- ORAL COMMUNICATION
- PROBLEM SOLVING
- SYSTEMS TESTING AND EVALUATION
- WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
This recruitment will utilize the following technical assessment tools: Structured Resume Review and Structured Interview.
You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.
If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities or you may be found ineligible/not qualified.
Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
All eligibility, qualifications, and time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. How to apply Click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
- Complete resume with relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications. The following information should be provided in your resume: employer's name, starting and end dates (Mo/Yr), hours per week if experience was less than full time (35-40 hours per week), pay plan, series and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09) for relevant federal experience. TIP: A good way to ensure you include all essential information is to use the Resume Builder in USAJOBS to create your resume.
- Supporting documentation
Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.
Your complete application must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 11/20/2026. Applications received after 11/20/2026 will generally result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration. If more than one resume is received, only the last resume received and processed will be reviewed.
For additional information on viewing your application status, click https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.
You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
Do not email or send hard copy resumes/applications to the Contact Information or Agency Information listed in this vacancy announcement. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.
It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume and documents are legible and accurate. HR will not modify answers/documents submitted by an applicant. Other information This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.
Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.
A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.
Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf
PPP applicants will be placed at the FPL, if determined Well Qualified (WQ). To receive priority consideration, the FPL must be the same grade level or equivalent of the retained grade or the grade held immediately prior to separation.
ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a rating in the highly qualified category (score 85) or higher. ICTAP candidates must provide copies of all of the following documentation at the time of application: 1) agency notice; 2) most recent performance appraisal; and 3) most recent SF-50 or notification of personnel action that includes position, grade level, and duty location. Applicants who do not provide this documentation will not receive consideration as an ICTAP candidate. For more information about ICTAP eligibility please review the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/career-transition/
Military Spouse Preference applicants will be placed at the highest grade for which they have applied and are determined Best Qualified (BQ). A BQ military spouse possesses knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies comparable to others who meet the competitive referral criteria for the specific position.
