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Archeologist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Valles Caldera National Preserve
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Valles Caldera National Preserve, in the Science & Resource Stewardship Division.

Open to the first 60 applicants or until 06/16/2021 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration. Government housing is not available.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/07/2021 to 06/15/2021
This job will close when we have received 60 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$53,770 to - $69,899 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Location
Jemez Springs, NM
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
Yes—Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will be paid if the selectee lives outside the local commuting area and is otherwise eligible for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation. This reimbursement is taxable income. The NPS does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. Employees should consult professional tax, legal and accounting advisors regarding concerns about the financial implications of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS).
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Career Seasonal (subject to periods of non-pay)
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
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
IM-1538-VALL-21-11135155-DE
Control number
603644600

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Duties

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Career-Seasonal positions are subject to release and recall procedures. A permanent career-seasonal position includes all the benefits of permanent employment, but does not provide employment on a full year-round basis. As such, selectee will be in a non-pay/non-duty status for at least 2 weeks to 6 months per year based on project requirements or weather conditions. Selectees are guaranteed to work at least 6 months per year but not more than 50 weeks per year, with the work schedule to be determined upon appointment. The typical season for Valles Caldera National Preserve is April through November but can be variable during these months due to project requirements or weather conditions.Career/Career-Conditional Full-time appointment.

The Archaeologist serves as an archeology advisor working under the direction of the Cultural Resources Program Manager at the Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Springs, New Mexico. The purpose of this position is to serve as an archaeology advisor for the park, to coordinate all National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Section 106, compliance activities at the park, and as time permits to support the management of the museum collection. This position is part of the Cultural Resource Program in the Division of Science and Resource Stewardship. The incumbent ensures that NPS and professionally recognized procedures are applied in conduction through Section 106 review for park projects potentially affecting archeological resources. Incumbent is responsible for and/or makes significant contributions to the preparation of historic documentation as required by Section 106 and Section 110 of NHPA, and the Native American Graves Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The archaeologist provides advice on identification and management of archaeological and other historic cultural resources, including development of immediate objectives, integration of resource activities, and establishment of priorities. The Archaeologist plans and executes a program of archeological surveys and inventories in relation to various projects, and prepares reports, maps, inventories and records related to discovery, protection, inventory or salvage and interpretation of archeological resources. Finally, the Archaeologist works with the NPS compliance management database - Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) - to manage and maintain the park's Section 106 process.

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.

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.
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to 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 discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • 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 travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-06/16/2021-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

For this position, you must meet basic qualifications before meeting any minimum qualifications. You must meet one of the four options below for Basic Qualifications for the series of 0193:

Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: 1. History of archeology, 2) Archeology of a major geographic area such as North American, 3) Regional Archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development, 4) Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques, 5) 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 6 semester hours of related course work in: 1) geography, geology, or cultural geography; 2) history; historiography, or historical archeology; 3) environmental studies; 4) scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or 5) surveying; AND Archeological field school. (You must submit a college transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position).
-OR-
Successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a related curriculum: Anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics); history; American studies: or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplies academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A, including archeological field school (You must submit a transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position).
-OR-
Completed a college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described in 1A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.
-OR-
Completed 4 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 archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeology survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher graded archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as part of a larger archeological project.

- AND -

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 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-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: planning and conducting archeological resource surveys, preparing archeological survey reports, and evaluating the significance of archeological resources. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Master's Degree or higher, or completion of all requirements for a Master or equivalent graduate degree. To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field. The total education offered to meet this provision must have provided you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the work of this position. To receive credit, you should describe how their specific course work, research projects, dissertation, theses, etc. demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of this position (36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 2 years of graduate education completed. Then take the number of months of full time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. EXAMPLE: Six (6) months of specialized experience (50% of experience) plus 27 hours of graduate education (50% of education), equals 100% of this requirement. NOTE: Only qualifying graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours (graduate), is creditable towards meeting the specialized experience requirement. 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.

Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) 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 eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP. 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. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001).

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

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.

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

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 work requires mental alertness, the ability to concentrate for long periods of time, better than average manual dexterity and mobility. Although primarily sedentary, monitoring, investigations and operations involve activities demanding a significant amount of exertion, physical strength, and stamina and include activities such as walking, standing for long periods of time, digging and sifting, lifting of heavy objects, bending, stooping and/or reaching.

Working Conditions: The majority of the work is performed in an office. Cataloging may be performed in a curatorial facility or room. Archeological work is performed in an office and in the field, reviewing projects, monitoring and testing for archaeological resources. There are environmental hazards, such as ticks, poison ivy, uneven walking surfaces, rain, snow, sleet, hail, lightning, cold, heat and
humidity. Some travel to other park units as well as to training and/or professional meetings is required. A driver's license is required.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

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.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

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 https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11135155, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

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 an online assessment. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Flexibility
  • History and Archaeology
  • Information Technology Research and Development
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Research
  • Self-Management
  • Teamwork
  • Writing


Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:
  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.

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