
NAVAL ARCHITECT
Washington Navy Yard, DCFull-time$144–197K/yrPosted today
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At a glance
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Requirements
Credentials this posting asks for.
Job overview
The Naval Architect serves as a Structural Engineer in NAVSEA HQ Field Support’s Naval Architecture and Structures Division. The role plans and manages structural requirements and assessments for Navy platforms, oversees design and research tradeoffs, coordinates technical support funding, and maintains Navy structural standards. It also evaluates structural designs and resolves complex naval structural integrity problems.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Summary
You will serve as a Structural Engineer in the Naval Architecture and Structures Division of NAVSEA HQ FIELD SUPPORT.
Duties
- You will plan and manage the development and application of navy platform structural requirements, characterizations, predictions and performance assessments for in-service and new acquisition programs and their structural issues as directed.
- You will plan and oversee the execution of performance, risk, and affordability tradeoffs for high priority and high visibility structures-related design and Research and Development efforts.
- You will coordinate and advocate for program funds needed to provide field activity and contractor technical support to help execute structural reviews and assessments.
- You will develop and maintain Navy technical standards concerning ship structural integrity designs and assessments.
- You will execute independent technical evaluations and review of structural design requirements, specifications, system designs and analyses, design criteria, design products, design waivers, risk assessments and life cycle engineering efforts.
- You will assess the potential of proposed structural work to correct current or projected naval structural integrity deficiencies.
- You will resolve controversial or highly complex naval structural integrity problems not susceptible to standard treatment, and apply new theories and new technical developments.
Qualifications
Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the next lower pay band, NH-03 (GS-13 Equivalent), in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector as professional engineer evaluating and incorporating the latest developments in naval structural engineering into technical plans, proposals, and specifications governing subsequent systems design, development, production, procurement, and utilization pertaining to naval ships. 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 AND 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 basic education requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Successful completion of a professional engineering degree. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), 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 more information about EI and EIT registration requirements, please visit the National Society of Professional Engineers website at: http://www.nspe.org OR Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) 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 The FE examination is not administered by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management. For more information, please visit: http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/HowtoGetLicensed/index.html. OR Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A (above). The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A (above) OR 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 one 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. How You Will Be Evaluated
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: INFLUENCING/NEGOTIATING ORAL COMMUNICATION PROBLEM SOLVING SHIP DESIGN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 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. 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. Other Information
This position is part of the Department of Defense Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project. The NH-04 broadband level encompasses positions equivalent to GS-14 and GS-15. This position has a control point; thus, the salary range may be capped at GS-15, Step 05, which is equivalent to $191,850. If you're current salary is above this amount, your salary may be matched. 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. During the application process you will have the ability to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions in the local commuting area. Depending on the hiring organization and the position being filled, job requirements (e.g., security clearance, travel, drug testing, financial disclosure filing, bargaining unit status, etc.) may vary. Other hiring managers filling similar positions may offer relocation expense reimbursement and/or may offer recruitment incentives for new employees, depending on funding availability and in accordance with policy. If you opt-in and are referred on a certificate, your resume will be available to other hiring managers for 180-days from the date the job announcement closes. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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 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. 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. A relocation incentive is generally a single payment intended to offset some of the relocation costs experienced by the selectee. A relocation incentive may be authorized.
How this job compares
Set against the 3,151 open Structural Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$144–197K/yr
- Washington, D.C. median$100–140K/yr25 salary ranges
- US median$100–155K/yr1,940 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $171K, is 36% above the Washington, D.C. median midpoint ($125K) — in the top quarter of Structural Engineer salary ranges in Washington, D.C..
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 28 open Structural Engineer jobs in Washington, D.C. and 3,151 across the US. 4% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in Washington, D.C.
- Sargent & Lundy12 open
- Arup3 open
- Cydecor, Inc.2 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience — less than three in four Structural Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 6 years, across 2,703 postings).
- Education
- 2,412 of the 3,151 open Structural Engineer jobs (77%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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