System Protection and Control Specialist

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: GS-11: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-09). Specialized experience is defined as: Applying concepts, regulations, rules, governances, theories, policies, principles, practices, precedents, and qualitative and quantitative methods applicable to 1) system protection and control to assist higher-graded specialists in the development of test plans for equipment, application of those test plans and to assist in related lab tests; and 2) using experience and knowledge of operating characteristics and capabilities of meter communication equipment and operations for an organization. You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or a LL.M., in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. -OR- Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first two years of full-time study may be credited). One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours the graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. If the graduate school’s definition of one year of graduate study is not available, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) is used. When crediting education that requires specific course work the number of hours of related courses required, as a proportion of the total education, is prorated. To compute the percentages: (1) divide the total months of qualifying specialized experience by 12; then (2) divide any graduate education in excess of the first two full years by the total number of credit hours required by the school (for one academic year of full-time study) or by 18; and lastly (3) add the two percentages together. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, 6 months of specialized experience meets 50% of the experience requirement (6 ÷ 12); 9 semester hours of graduate level education in excess of the first two years of full-time study meets 50% of the education requirement (9 ÷ 18); when combined the percentages total 100%. GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-11). Specialized experience is defined as: Independently applying of a wide range of concepts, regulations, rules, governances, theories, policies, principles, practices, precedents, and qualitative and quantitative methods applicable to 1) system protection and control to develop test plans for a variety of equipment types, conduct those test plans and lab tests for results; and 2) applying experience and knowledge of the operating characteristics and capabilities of a variety of equipment to operate, test, network, repair, or evaluate protection and control equipment that include protective relays, revenue metering, telemetering, or related kinds of substation monitoring and control equipment to complete an assignment or project There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 grade level. “Experience” refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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 is located in Protection, Control, & Instrumentation (TEZP) organization of Technical Services (TEZ), Transmission Engineering & Technical Services (TE), Transmission Services (T), of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). A successful candidate will meter communication device lifecycle, manage the meter communication system, and support communication of SPC laptops and software to meters, relays, and other SPC devices in the field.