You will serve as a Petroleum Engineer with the Orphan Wells Program Office (OWPO). This is a temporary promotion and/or detail not to exceed 4 years. This position may be physically located in any DOI office, and will be negotiated after selection. The salary listed in the announcement is at the Rest of the United States (RUS) level. The geographical locality pay will be determined at the time of selection.
First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Leads and advises a multidisciplinary team to carry out field inspections and desk audits of grant recipient plugging activities, processes, and procedures. Provides expert advice and support to achieve sound plugging practices and sustainable plugging of orphaned wells in accordance with grant awards and federal project terms and conditions.
Reviews and provides technical advice on well plugging plans, surface, and subsurface liabilities, and environmental remediation techniques associated well plugging activities. Evaluates and provides oversight of the reclamation and remediation of plugged well sites. Ensures wells are plugged in accordance with applicable environmental laws and regulations to protect groundwater, other natural resources, public health and safety, and the environment.
Serves as a lead and technical expert to a multidisciplinary team consisting of environmental engineers, petroleum engineers, natural resource specialists, physical scientists, and other specialists. Analyzes and interprets well plugging engineering data, reviews plugging standards and procedures, and monitors activities related to financial assistance awards and federal projects.
Evaluates and advises on the adequacy of the Department's methane measurement protocols and techniques. Develops and contributes to writing high-level technical documents and providing feedback to applicable parts of the Orphan Wells Program Office (OWPO) national financial assistance program. Conducts critical assessments and reviews of applications for grant funding, grantee programmatic reports, and technical papers.
Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies; and coordinates work efforts with other OWPO Divisions and external organizations as appropriate.
Provides authoritative support to the Division Chief on the technical aspects of well plugging, lease bonding, and transfer of liabilities related to reducing the orphaned well burden, idle well plan evaluations, and other mission critical technical assessments. Reviews the collection of orphaned, idle, and temporarily abandonment well data for the purposes of developing data models to predict future orphaned well liabilities.
This position does not allow substituting education for experience. This position has a mandatory education requirement. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs.
For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications
This position is with Office of the Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior.
The posted pay range is $125776 – $163514/yr.
This position is eligible for telework.
Applications close on 2026-10-27.
This position is open under the 'Fed Transition' hiring path.
Source: USAJOBS.gov — U.S. Federal Government · Retrieved 2026-10-22 · Not affiliated with or endorsed by OPM or USAJOBS.gov
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