You will be responsible for assuring that environmental programs, studies, and/or documents comply with appropriate environmental policy acts, regulations and laws. You will also provide guidance and technical expertise to State Departments of Transportation, State and local transportation partners, Tribal Governments, Federal resource and regulatory agencies, and/or internal FHWA offices.
As an Environmental Protection Specialist, you will:
- Serve as an advisor on FHWA environmental policy, laws, regulations.
- Advise FHWA stakeholders and Federal and State partner agencies on Federal environmental responsibilities and FHWA regulations, policies, and guidance.
- Collaborate with and advise stakeholders of special environmental concerns.
- Conduct program and/or process reviews to ensure that Federal requirements and environmental commitments are achieved.
- Identify and determine relevant interagency technical/policy issues warranting coordination.
- Provide technical assistance to resolve program and project-specific issues.
The ideal candidate is an employee with experience implementing environmental laws, regulations, or policy and effective communication skills.
To determine which grade(s) you may be eligible for, review the following grade specific details. You will be asked a few questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet this experience in your resume or you may be deemed ineligible.
For the GS-11: You qualify for this grade level if you meet one of the following experience and/or education requirements.
On Experience, you must have at least one year of experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level, which included:
- Experience applying environmental standards, methods, and practices to assure full implementation of environmental laws, regulations, and policies; AND
- Experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents.
Or on Education, you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
You can also have a combination of graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.
For the GS-12: You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level, which included:
- Experience applying environmental standards, methods, and practices to assure full implementation of environmental laws, regulations, and policies; AND
- Experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents; AND
- Experience working with other Federal, State, and/or other organizations in accordance with environmental requirements.
For the GS-13:You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, which included:
- Experience applying environmental standards, methods, and practices to assure full implementation of environmental laws, regulations, and policies; AND
- Experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents; AND
- Experience working with Federal, State, and/or other organizations to resolve complex environmental issues/problems.
For the GS-14:You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-13 grade level, which included:
- Experience applying environmental standards, methods, and practices to assure full implementation of environmental laws, regulations, and policies; AND
- Experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents; AND
- Experience planning, leading, and managing multiple full-cycle environmental-related projects or overseeing the environmental regulatory process or policy related activities.
You cannot qualify on education at grades GS-12 and above, you must meet the specialized experience for each grade, which is cited above.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
- Technical Credibility - Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.
- Compliance - Knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and guidance.
- Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
- Written Communication - Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
For all types of consideration, 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
Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply to the GS-11 if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of closing date of the announcement. Graduation transcript must be received before start date. Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.