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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions are located on a Forest Service unit, where the incumbent serves as an Archeologist. Responsibilities include inventory, evaluation, and advice on heritage and cultural resource management, including determination of effects of projects on cultural resources and recommended mitigation in Region 3.

Applications will expire every 90 days. In order to remain in consideration, applicants must resubmit their application.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
10/01/2021 to 09/30/2022
Salary
$43,683 to - $69,462 per year

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page.

Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Locations
Few vacancies in the following locations:
Alpine, AZ
Camp Verde, AZ
Chino Valley, AZ
Douglas, AZ
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required for field work, site visits, trainings and/or meetings.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9
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
22-R3OCR-ARCH-0193-7-9G
Control number
616022000

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current permanent federal employees with competitive status, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP and VEOA eligibles, Farm Service Agency permanent county employees, 30 percent or More Disabled Veterans, Certain Former Overseas and Foreign Service Employees, Military Spouses, Interchange Agreement and Other Miscellaneous Authorities, People with Disabilities, Peace Corps and VISTA, Reinstatement, Public Land Corps, Resource Assistant Program, and VRA eligible candidates.

Duties

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  • Responsibilities listed are at the full performance level.
  • Perform archeological inventory to identify and assess the resources within the area that may be impacted by proposed projects.
  • Design inventory strategies to support land use planning.
  • Utilize archeological principles, practices, and concepts in order to develop cultural resource programs.
  • Provide advice on identification of Heritage and Cultural Resources.
  • Provide heritage and cultural resource management orientation to personnel on statutes, regulations and purpose of work to be performed.
  • Consult with other Forest Service program areas, state and tribal historic preservation offices, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other federal, state, and local agencies, and the public.
  • Monitor archeological projects to ensure sufficiency of past fieldwork to aid Forest in identification, evaluation, and management of historic properties.
  • Ensure program data for documentation submission including contracts, National Register of Historic Places (HRHP) eligibility criteria and legal documents fulfill requirements.
  • Prepare maps of heritage and cultural resource areas.
  • Prepare reports of heritage and cultural resource areas.

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.
  • 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 https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If selected, must submit proof of vaccination or request a religious or reasonable accommodation.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the date the certificate of eligible candidates is issued. 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-0193:

A. Education
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 listed above (including archeological field school); OR

B. Combination of education and experience- courses equivalent to a major in Archeology as described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education; OR

C. 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 archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological 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 archeologist, 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 archeological project.

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-7: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Conducted routine field reconnaissance searches, identifying and marking archeological sites, preparing site location maps, recording findings, photographing artifact findings, and preparing sites sketches as necessary; Assisted in searching for and examining historical records and findings of other archeological experts. OR One full year of graduate level education, OR an appropriate combination of graduate level education and specialized experience, OR Superior Academic Achievement. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must be directly related to the position being filled..

For the GS-9: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Assisted in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development; Participated in archeological survey and site evaluation work and preparation of technical reports; Interpreted cultural resources to public contacts in one-on-one conversations; Received formal and on-the-job instructions and training on the practical application of archeological principles, theories, methods, practices, and techniques; Developed and coordinated networks and contacts beneficial to the successful performance of archeological work assignments, such as interacting technically with colleagues and supervisors, and demonstrating the ability to work cooperatively with other persons. OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related; OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must be directly related to the position being filled.

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 requirement.

Additional information

THIS IS AN OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. This type of announcement provides the Forest Service with a readily available source of applicants when vacancies occur. Eligibility and qualifications will be verified when there is a vacancy for the location and grade for which you applied. Information on specific locations where jobs are being filled and the dates when applications are due for these locations can be found at https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com/Outreach.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent Country Employees without prior Federal Tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must service a 1 year probationary period.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Veteran's Recruitment Act (VRA), 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

Bargaining Unit Status: Eligible - Coverage is dependent upon unit location.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government housing may be available.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

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 your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • History and Archaeology
  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Technical Competence
  • Written Communication


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.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. 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.

To view a preview of the application question, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11233946

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