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Archaeologist (Direct Hire)

Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This vacancy will be filled using the Office of Personnel Management's Direct-Hire Authority. Veterans' preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this announcement. For more information on OPM's authorization of Direct Hire Authority, please visit, https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/direct-hire-authority/

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/17/2021 to 08/04/2021
Salary
$53,433 to - $84,049 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
Salina, KS
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
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
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
NRCS-21-11082272-DE-KS-KM
Control number
601722400

Duties

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  • Provides guidance and assistance to field offices and resource technical teams for conservation, protection, and enhancement of cultural resources, including Native American resources, encountered in all NRCS programs and activities.
  • Defines areas of major cultural resource and environmental concerns; designs and implements methodologies; and provides recommendations for treatment of cultural resources.
  • Provides technical cultural resource sections of contracts, environmental documents, agreement documents and other instruments of agency intent in the assigned area of responsibility.
  • Determines and prioritizes the allocation of time and resources to best achieve the annual goals of the cultural resource program.
  • Provides administrative support for all aspects of the program to include preparing regular and special reports as required.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Satisfactory Background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year trial period.
  • Direct Deposit: 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Signed participant agreement is required for employment under Pathways.
  • This position requires the incumbent to possess and maintain a valid state driver's license.
  • Duty Location may change based upon training needs or upon conversion to competitive service.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Basic Qualifications: You must possess the Basic Requirements identified below to be considered eligible all positions at the GS-9 grade level and above. Your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the appropriate experience requirements.

For the GS-09 level: Archeology - 0193:
1. Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:
- History of archeology.
- Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa
- Regional archeology, Archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development.
- Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
- Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. AND
Six semester hours of related course work in:
- geography, geology, or cultural geography;
- history, historiography, or historical archeology;
- environmental studies;
- scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or
- surveying;
AND Archeological field school.

OR 2. Related Curriculum: degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A.1 (including archeological field school).

OR B. Combination of Education and Experience - College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A. above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.

OR C. Experience: Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archaeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archaeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archaeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher grade archaeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archaeological project.

Minimum Qualification Requirements for the GS-9 Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the federal service which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience that would be creditable for this position include: Excavation and collection of artifacts to determine significance of archaeological sites. Designing and establishing cultural resource management programs;
OR Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience for the GS-09 level: Possess 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a masters degree or masters equivalent graduate degree (i.e. degree in archeology, anthropology, or any other directly-related subject matter);
OR Combination of Education and Experience: Posses a combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above. This combination must have equipped the applicant with the necessary knowledge and/ore experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outline in OPM Qualifications Policy.

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above, may be used to qualify for this position. This combination must have equipped you with the necessary knowledge and/or experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outlined in OPM Qualifications policy.

Specialized Experience to qualify for the GS-11 level: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the federal service which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Examples of specialized experience include:

  • Preserving and maintaining written, photographic and drawn records and electronic databases;
  • Explaining policies, programs, and projects to stakeholders such as federal agencies, state agencies, and various organizations; OR

Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience for the GS-11 level: Possesses three (3 )years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Posses a combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above. This combination must have equipped the applicant with the necessary knowledge and/ore experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outline in OPM Qualifications Policy.


Note: The OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series

Experience Note: 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.

Education

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. If you have not yet conferred your degree or certificate, but will within 120 days of the closing date of this announcement, a letter from the school documenting current standing, degree being obtained and expected graduation date must be submitted with your application. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. Official transcript will be required prior to entering on duty. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Applicants must, therefore, only report attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation via this link. All education claimed by applicants will be verified accordingly. Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information.

Additional information

Education Status: Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two (2) years; or individuals who, due to military service obligation, were precluded from applying to the Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period described above shall have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. This eligibility period cannot extend more than 6 years from the date on which the requirements for the academic course of study were met.

Recent Graduate appointments may not exceed two years. Recent Graduates who satisfactorily complete all the USDA Recent Graduates Program requirements may be non-competitively converted to a Term or Permanent appointment in the competitive service. Conversion is not guaranteed. Recent Graduates converted to Term appointments may later be non-competitively converted to a Permanent competitive service position.

  • Physical Demands: Work requires long periods of standing; walking or riding horses/ATVs/motorcycles over rough terrain; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, reaching, similar activities. Regular and recurring physical exertion related to conservation work requires walking on rough terrain, jumping ditches and furrows, or climbing steep banks.
  • Conversion/Promotion to the next higher grade may occur without further competition once all legal and regulatory requirements are met to include management's certification of the continuing need for performance of duties at the higher grade level. Conversion/Promotion is not guaranteed.
  • This position is eligible for telework within the commuting area of the duty location of the position and other flexible work arrangements. Employee participation is at the discretion of the supervisor.
  • This announcement may be used to fill multiple vacancies.
  • It is the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. See more information at: http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=6465
  • Relocation/recruitment incentives may be authorized. Information about incentives can be found at opm.gov. Recruitment, Relocation & Retention Incentives (opm.gov)

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over nonveterans. Category placement will be determined based on applicants' quality of experience and the extent they possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or competencies:

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. 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. 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.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11082272

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