Clarification from the agency

All current or former career/career-conditional federal employees with competitive/reinstatement eligibility; Eligible applicants under: Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); CTAP/ICTAP within the local commuting area; Special Hiring Authorities; Current or former time-limited employees under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA); All former PLC members meeting PLC requirements.

Develop and maintain knowledge of past and on-going research and science through a variety of communication types to internal and external audiences. Uses computer software such as adobe creative suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premier Pro etc.) to design publications, brochures, posters, videos, and podcasts. Develop and maintain written and audio-visual content for the Continental Divide Research Learning Center and RMNP website using CMS (Content Management System). Plan, coordinate, and facilitate workshops and conferences to share information among park staff, cooperating agencies, and scientific collaborators. Draft written science-based products such as succinct fact sheets, research briefs, summary reports, newsletter and magazine articles, and peer reviewed manuscripts. Management of the Research Learning Center Field Station. This includes providing logistical support to researchers and guests by assisting with housing reservations, providing connections to other park staff, acquiring and maintaining equipment and supplies, and providing area orientation for project personnel.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying of heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrated and trite 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 rocky terrain, artic environments, and forests. Flying in fixed and rotary wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.

Area Information: Established on January 29, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park is a living showcase of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. The park embraces 415 square miles of pristine, uninhabited mountains in north-central Colorado and, as such, is one of the most spectacular, yet easily accessible high mountain areas in North America. With elevations ranging from 7,800 feet at park headquarters to 14,259 feet at the summit of Longs Peak, the park has glacier-sculptured valleys, rugged gorges, alpine lakes, and vast areas of alpine tundra. Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved continuous road in the United States, stays above tree line for 11 miles and reaches 12,183 feet in elevation. Elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose, coyotes, and smaller animals are found throughout the park, as well as threatened and endangered species, such as the Greenback Cutthroat Trout and Boreal Toad. Due to the park's easy accessibility to the Front Range communities of Colorado, Rocky experiences over 4 million visitors annually. This position will be filled on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The nearest community is Estes Park, CO, which has K-12 schools, a post office, restaurants, medical facilities, and grocery stores. Denver, CO which has a major airport, cultural events, and several professional sports teams is a two hour drive away.
Government housing may be available on a temporary or permanent basis. Housing assignments are made through a bid process.

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.
• 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. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
• 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 will 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 on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• 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 occasionally. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• 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-11/03/2021-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

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 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized 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.

To be eligible for this position, you must meet both the basic requirement and the qualifying specialized experience and/or education as well as selective factors as described in the occupational/assessment questionnaire and as outlined below.

BASIC REQUIREMENT (ALL GRADES): This occupation has a specific basic requirement to be met by the close of the announcement. It is your responsibility to show how you satisfy the course requirements for this series. You must submit your college transcripts that demonstrate the requirements with your application. Failure to include your transcripts will make you ineligible for this position. Official transcripts will be requested, if selected.

Successfully completed a full four-year course of study at an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to this position.
-OR-
A combination of education and experience that included course work equivalent to a major plus appropriate experience or additional education.

- AND -

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 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-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Examples of specialized experience include: assisting with developing science communication products for review by supervisor or in an education or classroom setting such as developing a science based newsletter; writing science based content for wide audiences; utilizing scientific principles, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry including study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; or assisting with developing, testing and implementing scientific monitoring protocols to identify, evaluate, and do long-term monitoring of natural resources. Experience equivalent to the GS-5 may be professional work at the developmental or trainee level. Lower graded technician/assistant work alone is not qualifying for this series. You must provide hrs/wk and to/from dates (mo/yr) on your resume.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one year of progressively higher-level graduate education from an accredited educational institution concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of the position to be filled, such as in ecology, biology, zoology, botany, natural resource management; or other directly related subject matter. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester (27 quarter) hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. You must provide transcripts that demonstrate graduate level coursework.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement). The total percentage must equal at least 100%. You must provide transcripts that demonstrate graduate level coursework.
-OR-
Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.): be in the upper third of my graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR I have a GPA 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in my major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR I am a member in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. You must provide transcripts that show GPA or class standing and/or documentation that supports national scholastic honor society membership.

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). Examples of specialized experience include: developing a science-based newsletter, writing science-based content for wide audiences, developing videos on science or resource-based content; develop, test, and implement scientific monitoring protocols to identify, evaluate, and do long-term monitoring of natural resources. Experience equivalent to the GS-7 may be professional work at the developmental or trainee level. Lower graded technician/assistant work alone is not qualifying for this series. You must provide hrs/wk and to/from dates (mo/yr) on your resume.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Master's degree or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited educational institution concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of the position to be filled such as ecology, biology, zoology, botany, natural resource management; or other directly related subject matter. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. You must provide transcripts that demonstrate graduate level coursework.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 27 semester hours or 41 quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement). The total percentage must equal at least 100%. You must provide transcripts that demonstrate graduate level coursework.

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.

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 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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your responses to the online assessments completed during the application process. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Communications and Media
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating
• Research
• Self-Management
• Teamwork
• Writing

• Decision Making
• Reading
• Reasoning

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. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Please 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.