Mining Engineer

Job Summary:

• Are you looking for a position with great benefits such as paid vacations, sick days, health/life insurance, retirement, flexible work schedule, and valuable work experience?
• This position is located in the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) whose primary objectives are to aggressively pursue the reclamation of abandoned mine lands (AML) and to prevent environmental problems in the coalfields by working through the State agencies.
• The Mid-Continent Region's Program Support Division, Technical Service Branch is looking for Mining Engineers or qualified engineers experienced in mining and mine reclamation. The incumbent will be responsible for providing technical expert advice to OSM and the State Regulatory Authorities (SRA) on mining engineering and related reclamation practices; performing work in engineering and the application of physical science disciplines in support of coal mining and reclamation operations.
• If selected for this position, you will be working for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, located Alton, Illinois, within the metropolitan area of St. Louis, Missouri.
• The position has a full performance level of GS-13.
• Applications under this vacancy announcement will be considered under Merit Promotion Procedures only. This position is being advertised concurrently with OSM-2011-0037 (Merit Promotion) Multiple positions will be filled from these vacancy announcements. Candidates who wish to be considered under both DEU and Merit Promotion procedures MUST apply to both Vacancy Announcements separately to be considered.

Key Requirements

• Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
• Relocation Expenses may be paid.
• Males born after 12/31/59- Selective Service Registration Required
• If selected for this position, a background investigation is required.

As a Mining Engineer you will:

• Serve as the technical expert on problems associated with mining engineering including blasting, bond calculations, slope stability, Approximate Original Contour, underground mining design, subsidence, and structural/foundation investigations.
• Responsible for performing and /or monitoring professional work products of lower graded employees.
• Advises others, writes draft regulations and draft policy
• directives that pertain to mining engineering and related fields.
• Serves as an instructor for the Technical Innovation and Professional Services (TIPS) training program in AutoCad and Carlson Mining/Civil software products as they apply directly to mining and reclamation.
• Proposes, develops, revises, and teaches technical courses related to engineering and related fields. Presents findings to peers through technical forums, symposiums, and published reports.
• Provides specialized expert advice and highly authoritative
• recommendations regarding OSM's oversight of the State Regulatory
• Authorities.
• Serves as OSM expert in assigned program area and
• provides internal and external OSM with useful and timely
• information. Works with networks of employees within OSM, State and
• Federal agencies, universities, and the mining industry.
• Participates in the investigation of citizen and abandoned mines
• lands complaints, oversight studies and enforcement actions. Prepare
• engineering or specific papers and technical reports.

Qualifications Required:

• Candidates must meet the requirements specified in the Office of
• Personnel Management's Qualification Standards in order to be
• qualified for this position.

Education Substitution For Specialized Experience:
In addition to the basic requirement, all education must be directly

• related to the position being filled.
• To qualify at GS-05:  You Must possess a Professional Mining Engineering Degree which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)
• To qualify at GS-07:  1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement.
• To qualify at GS-09:  2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's degree or equivalent graduate degree.
• To qualify at GS-11:  3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
• You Must possess a Professional Mining Engineering Degree.  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; (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 relations); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d)
• thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and
• properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure
• to a properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental
• engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil
• mechanics, or electronics. 
• To qualify at GS-12: In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirements, one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal service.
• Specialized experience is further defined as demonstrated examples of the following:
• Serving as a specialist performing work in minerals exploration, development & production activities such as reviewing and preparing exploration plans or the extraction of minerals, evaluating mineral resources, inspecting mining operations & reclamation activities.
• There is no substitution of education for specialized experience in this position at this grade level.
• You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement. 

Education Requirement:

• You will need to clearly state your undergraduate and graduate degree(s) and submit all your college transcripts that include semester/quarter hour credits and grades.

Basic Education Requirements for this position are as follows:

• 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--
• 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 professional 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: