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Land Surveyor

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

There are two positions located in Region 1 with one position in Butte, MT, and one position in Bozeman, MT.

This position serves as a Land Surveyor for the East Side Lands & Boundary Zone which serves three national forests and one national grassland in Montana, North Dakota and Northwestern South Dakota.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Mark Aughtman at (701)227-7835 or mark.aughtman@usda.gov.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
10/09/2019 to 10/21/2019
Salary
$62,236 to - $62,236 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Bozeman, MT
Butte, MT
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
50% or less - Frequent overnight travel is required to individual forests to facilitate boundary marking for projects, as well as for training and meetings.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
20-R1GVMAR-1373-11-FS2700DP
Control number
548184400

Duties

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  • Provides professional land surveying input for the planning and programming of Forest land surveying priorities.
  • Plans and directs the execution of survey projects of a complex nature usually associated with boundary disputes or title claims cases, but also including high-order geodetic surveys, right-of-way, easement, and engineering surveys.
  • Recommends solutions to land disputes involving rectangular public land surveys, patent mining claims, homestead surveys, easements, right-of-way surveys, etc.
  • Provides technical assistance and guidance to management and staff personnel on problems involving boundary disputes.
  • Provides technical guidance and training to Forest survey personnel performing cadastral, geodetic, rights-of-way, and engineering surveys.
  • Consults with Registrar of Deeds, County Surveyors, other Registered Land Surveyors, property owners, Government officials, and all other sources, for record information of previous surveys or other data.
  • Serves as Contracting Officer's Representative on survey projects on survey projects formally contracted to private firms, prepares specifications, and/or reviews surveying contracts on the Forest.
  • Serves as a contract inspector on land survey projects contracted to private land survey firms, ensuring compliance with contract specifications.
  • Establishes and maintains the unit files of U.S. General Land Office Plats and Field Notes.
  • Provides survey data to Regional Office staffs, forests, engineering units, survey crews, etc., to provide for effective determination of National Forest System lands.
  • Interprets and writes legal descriptions and prepares plats and documents incident to land surveys.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.
  • A State Land Surveyor registration for the state(s) in which the duties will be performed will be required within one year of selection.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Basic Requirement:

GS-1373: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in land surveying; or civil engineering with a surveying option/emphasis. The civil engineering major must have included at least 6 semester hours of surveying, 3 semester hours of land law, and 21 additional semester hours in any combination of the following: surveying, photogrammetry, geodetic surveying, geodesy, route surveying, remote sensing, cartography, survey astronomy, land information systems, computer-aided mapping, aerial photo interpretation, and survey analysis and adjustments.

OR

Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in land surveying or civil engineering as described above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

OR

Current registration as a land surveyor in a State, territory, or the District of Columbia obtained by written examination. Such registration must have been obtained under conditions outlined in the National Council of Engineering Examiners (NCEE) Unified Model Law for Registration of Surveyors. Applicants wishing to be considered under this provision must show evidence of registration based on successful completion of the written examinations. Registrations granted prior to adoption of a registration law with qualification requirements equivalent to the NCEE Model Law by the State, territory, or District of Columbia are not acceptable under this option. To be considered equivalent to the NCEE Model law, registration laws must include the four options listed within the NCEE Unified Model Law in the section specifying "General Requirements for Registration" as a Professional Land Surveyor.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as the majority of the following: prepare preliminary and final survey plats, drawings, reports, legal records, and title descriptions; provide professional land surveying input for the planning and programming of land surveying priorities; plan and direct the execution of survey projects of a complex nature usually associated with boundary disputes or title claims cases, but also including high-order geodetic surveys, right-of-way, easement, and engineering surveys; recommend solutions to land disputes such as easements, right-of way surveys, patent mining claims, homestead surveys; consult with Registrar of Deeds, County Surveyors, other Registered Land Surveyors, property owners, Government officials, and all other sources, for survey data; serve as a contract inspector ensuring compliance with contract specifications on survey projects contracted to private surveying firms; provide technical assistance and guidance to management and staff on problems involving boundary disputes.

OR

Applicants must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to land surveying or civil engineering);

OR

an appropriate combination of specialized experience (see above for qualifying specialized experience) and graduate level education with coursework directly related to land surveying or civil engineering (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

See above for education requirements.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

This is a bargaining unit position represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees, IAMAW.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing is not available

This position is eligible for telework and other flexible work arrangements.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications.

You will be evaluated in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal Service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10613682

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