Portland District > About > Hydroelectric Design Center

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US Army Corps of Engineers

Portland District Website

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Hydroelectric Design Center

Learn More & Apply

Hydroelectric Design Center
333 SW 1st Ave
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-808-4203
Email: michael.s.hale@usace.army.mil

Click here for the Hydroelectric Design Center Contracting Opportunities Forecast

What We Offer

Salary Information
We offer competitive salary as compared to industry. Our team is on the General Schedule (GS) pay scale and is compensated for anything above 40 hours per week. A general overview regarding salary rates is found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-systems/general-schedule/.
Professional Development
Newly hired employees participate in a robust 1-2 year rotational program focused on training and development.

For mid-career employees are afforded opportunities to attend leadership development programs, technical courses, and obtain professional certifications.

For those seeking higher education, there are several options for college tuition support.

For those who want to engage with industry, we support professional working groups such as IEEE, CEATI, NWHA, NHA, ASME, etc.
Leave Benefits
Federal employees accrue 13 days of sick leave per year and between 13 and 26 days of annual leave, depending on experience in accordance with their years of federal service.

Additionally, federal employees receive 11 paid Federal Holidays per year.

Paid Parental Leave: Up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child.
Flexible Work Schedule
The HDC and USACE, values a healthy work-life balance. Here are ways we accomplish that for our team:

Flexible Work Schedule: A flexible schedule under which employees may modify their time of arrival and departure from the work site along with telework options.

Health and Fitness Leave: Paid time to improve and maintain health and fitness-up to 3 hours a week

Standard 8- Hour Day: If an employee works past the standard 8-hour day, he or she may be compensated by three different means:

1. Credit Hours: hours accrued in excess of the 8-hour daily requirement (can earn up to 2hrs. per day) that can be used on a later date.
2. Compensatory Time: hours accrued in excess of the 8-hour daily requirement that can be used on a later date.
3. Overtime, that is an increase in standard pay.
Insurance & Retirement
RETIREMENT
The Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) is the retirement system used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The three factors are:

- Defined Benefit Plan (Pension) (1% x Average High-3 Salary x Years of Service)
- Social Security
- Thrift Savings Plan (comparable to 401K)

* Employees may contribute up to the IRS maximum, a minimum 5% contribution will earn the full 5% government matching contribution
* We provide up to a 5% matching contribution to the TSP retirement savings account. More information is found at the TSP website: http://www.tsp.gov

LIFE INSURANCE
Life insurance coverage is available for yourself or for you and your family. Options available up to 5 times your pay. Insurance elections often carried into retirement. For more information visit the Life Insurance website at: https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/life-insurance/

HEALTH INSURANCE
We offer competitive health, vision, and dental insurance options. For more information visit the Health Benefits website at: https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/

What We Value

HDC follows the Army core values "LDRSHIP" along with specific HDC values in everything we do.

Established in 1948, the HDC is the Corps of Engineers' national Center of Expertise for hydroelectric and large pumping plant engineering and planning services.

The HDC is always looking for talented individuals who want to work in renewable energy! We hire many different engineering backgrounds along with support positions such as administrative staff, design managers, program analysts, engineering technicians, IT specialists, economists, mathematicians, etc.

THE HDC TEAM

The HDC has approximately 175 team members with the largest concentration of electrical, mechanical, and computer science staff in the USACE.

Hydropower experience at the HDC ranges from student to national technical expert with more than 30+ years of experience.

We operate throughout the U.S. with our main office in Portland, OR., and remote offices in Mobile, AL., Cincinnati, OH., and other areas.

The Hydropower Analysis Center (HAC) is a Planning Center of Expertise within the HDC and provides services such as hydropower valuation studies, asset management, and data analytics.

WE DEVELOP EXPERTS IN HYDROPOWER

For new hires, the HDC has an excellent new employee rotational program that is 1-2 years and focused on training and development.

For Mid-career employees we provide leadership training, support professional certifications, and send people to technical courses.

For those seeking higher education, there are several options for college tuition support.

For those who want to engage with industry, we support professional working groups such as IEEE, CEATI, NWHA, NHA, ASME, etc.

THE WORK WE DO

We provide technical support services on all 75 USACE hydropower dams and large pumping stations throughout the United States.

Unique in this industry, the HDC is involved in projects from start to finish.

We work internationally to perform factory acceptance testing on our products before they arrive on site.

We develop and deploy the Generic Data Acquisition and Control System (GDACS) product to control and automate facilities across the country.

We are called to provide emergency technical support when equipment fails in the field.