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Biologist (Vegetation)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Joshua Tree National Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Joshua Tree National Park, in the Division of Science and Resource Stewardship.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
04/26/2021 to 05/10/2021
Salary
$73,827 to - $95,980 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
Twentynine Palms, CA
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
PW-1547-JOTR-21-11090316-MP
Control number
599461400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

We are accepting applications from current career or career conditional competitive service employees with the Department of Interior (DOI); Eligible employees for priority consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP); former Public Land Corps members meeting PLC requirements; and current or former time-limited employees eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA).

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Duties

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  • Prepares specific action plans pertaining to the management and protection of natural resources.
  • Develop and maintain liaisons and effective working relationship with related groups and individual agencies, and the public in order to encourage and facilitate cooperative regional management strategies.
  • Coordinates the park's natural resources strategies and programs with those on adjacent lands for the purpose of achieved broad ecosystem protection strategies and preventing human impacts.
  • Negotiates cooperative and interagency agreements and other cooperative instruments needed to effectively carry out resource stewardship goals.
  • Serves as the Contracting Officer's technical representative for projects conducted through contracts, interagency agreements and cooperative agreements.
  • Conduct inventories to determine statistically valid plot distribution and design and implementing protocols to assess the status and trends.
  • Develop and conduct scientifically credible protection, mitigation and restoration projects to prevent resource damage to restore and /or maintain the integrity of critical habitats, nature plant and animal communities, managed landscapes and physical resources.
  • Performs data collection using advanced technology such as electronic data collections.
  • Conducts analysis of complex data and determine and documents the significance of findings.
  • Works closely with park education staff to incorporate new information into park and partner education programs.
  • Prepare and maintain specifics in the park's natural history collection.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
  • You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
  • You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You may be required to work overtime, weekends, and holidays.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • You will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 on an annual basis.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-05/10/2021.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position, you must meet both the Basic Education requirements for the Biologist, 0401 series AND the minimum experience or education qualification for the GS-11 grade level.

Basic Education Requirements for the 0401 Series:
Successful completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a Bachelor's or higher degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must provide a copy of your transcripts.
- OR -
A combination of education and experience which included at least 24 semester hours of upper level courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education that is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources or related discipline. You must provide a copy of your transcripts.

- AND -

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: vegetation management, forestry, vegetation monitoring, rare plant monitoring, ecological monitoring, invasive plant management, rare (e.g. endangered) plant species recovery, and habitat restoration. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management or chemistry, which is directly related to the work of this position and demonstrates possession of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for this position. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described (50% of the experience requirement), and 45 semester hours of directly-related graduate level college study in an accredited institution as defined above (50% of the qualifying education). Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. You must include transcripts.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

ICTAP/CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

For additional information about this position please contact:
David Smith , Superintendent - Joshua Tree National Park
david_smith@nps.gov
(760) 367-5501

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy items. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, firelines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.

Telework: The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

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 based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Manages Human Resources
  • Oral Communication
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Project Management


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, which will be a panel resume review. This assessment measures the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

You must submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

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