Series 0881

Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum engineers who evaluate oil and gas drilling, production, and resources, often on federal lands and offshore leases. Most jobs are with the Department of the Interior.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0800 Engineering and Architecture Group · General Schedule

See open 0881 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 28
Open now: 2
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Falling (-17%)
Demand score: 39/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 43/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-7 to GS-15

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 100% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$122,749 to $159,575 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 29%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 71%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 18%
Telework eligible (open now): 0%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of the Interior (24)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (2)
Department of Energy (1)
Department of the Air Force (1)

Top states

Louisiana (13)
Colorado (6)
California (4)
Texas (4)
Alaska (3)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 0881 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	92
FY 2019	83
FY 2020	91
FY 2021	59
FY 2022	76
FY 2023	86
FY 2024	78
FY 2025	12
FY 2026	24

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0881 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	0
Jan 2026	0
Feb 2026	1
Mar 2026	2
Apr 2026	2
May 2026	2
Jun 2026	3
Jul 2026	7
Aug 2026	4
Sep 2026	3
Oct 2026	3
Nov 2026 (month to date)	1

0801 General Engineering 3,680 postings in 12 months
0810 Civil Engineering 1,496 postings in 12 months
0830 Mechanical Engineering 1,428 postings in 12 months
0850 Electrical Engineering 1,230 postings in 12 months
0802 Engineering Technical 1,075 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.