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Geographer

Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is a Geographer, GS- 0150-13 working in Fort Collins, Colorado for the R9-Natural Resources Program Center.

Note the close date has been extended to 06/07/2023.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/11/2023 to 06/07/2023
Salary
$109,107 to - $141,836 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Fort Collins, CO
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy. See Additional Information.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
R9-23-11962365-SG-MP
Control number
725096800

Duties

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As a Geographer your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

  • Design, develop, and document geospatial datasets, database systems, models, decision support tools, protocols, methods and procedures for managing biotic and abiotic geospatial data.
  • Initiate, lead, and participate in group efforts involving data managers from regions, program offices, and other agencies to identify geospatial and data management needs and priorities and coordinate activities; and evaluate data structures and information systems used by other Service programs and their applicability to the I&M information management requirements.
  • Use GIS and data management tools to identify, compile, analyze, and review information related to specific Service activities, e.g., conducting I&M surveys, evaluating, planning, appraising, acquiring, mapping and managing federal lands which are habitats of ecological significance.
  • Design and document methods to ensure long-term archiving and retrieval of biotic and abiotic spatial datasets produced by past and forthcoming efforts.
  • Plan, recommend, and implement information management project and budget requirements that support staff, cooperators, projects, geographic information systems, and the technical infrastructure required to support hosting and distribution of enterprise geospatial data layers.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Resume (See "Required Documents"). Failure to provide ALL required information on your resume will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is provided on resume.
  • Eligibility and Supporting documents - You will ONLY be considered for the eligibilities that you select "yes" to AND submit the required supporting documentation, as listed in the Required Documents section.
  • Merit promotion applicants must meet time-in-grade requirement as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
  • Suitability for employment, as determined by background investigation.
  • Driver's License: Selectees MAY be required to possess and maintain a valid State driver's license at all times during their tenure.
  • Probationary Period: Selectees may be required to successfully complete a probationary period.
  • Individuals assigned male at birth after 12-31-59 must be registered for the Selective Service. To verify registration visit SSS.gov.

Qualifications

Only experience and education obtained by 06/07/2023 will be considered.

In order to qualify for this position you must possess both the Basic Requirement and Minimum Qualification.

Basic Requirement:
A. I have completed a 4-year degree in geography; or related physical or social science such as geology, meteorology, economics, statistics, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, cartography, computer science, urban studies, or planning that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields. NOTE: Transcripts required.
or
B. I have a Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in geography, or a related field that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. NOTE: Transcripts required and your resume must contain sufficient detail at this level of work, i.e., complete begin/end dates, hours worked per week, duties performed, etc. for each timeframe for consideration.

Minimum Qualification [GS-13]
I have one (1) year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility equivalent to grade GS-12 in the Federal service. Experience may include: 1) Acquired, stored, indexed and queried geospatial and tabular databases used to support natural resource conservations efforts such as documenting species occurrence, monitoring habitat conditions, or tracking land management activities; 2) Developed conceptual, logical or physical data models to represent geographic phenomena; 3) Used statistical processing software, geographic information systems (GIS) software, or other tools to perform data analysis and statistical evaluation of biotic or abiotic factors; 4) Conducted cost-benefit analysis for proposed geospatial tool or data development projects such as providing decision support for land acquisition, tracking management actions, or measuring biotic or abiotic factors; 5) Implemented quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures to improve the quality and integrity of datasets. NOTE: Your resume must contain sufficient detail at this level of work, i.e., complete begin/end dates, hours worked per week, duties performed, etc. for each timeframe for consideration.

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: Applicants must meet both eligibility and qualification requirements for the position of interest by the closing date of the JOA. Specifically,
i. Area of Consideration.
ii. Time-in-grade (TIG) requirements as specified in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
iii. Time after competitive appointment as specified in 5 CFR 330.502.
iv. Qualification requirements outlined in OPM's Qualifications Standards for General Schedule Positions or for Federal Wage System (FWS), wage grade positions, applicants are evaluated using the OPM Job Qualification System for Trades and Labor Occupations and the job element examining method
Your SF-50 will be used to confirm you meet all requirements

Education

PROOF OF EDUCATION: All applicants who are using education or a combination of education and experience to qualify must submit copies of official or unofficial transcripts which include grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, institution name, and student name. If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html


Reasonable Accommodation (RA) 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 RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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 RA, 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

Additional information

PCS INFORMATION:--Yes, entitlements for payment of basic moving expenses, as required and to the extent allowed by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 302-3.101, are authorized for eligible applicants changing duty station when the change meets the distance tests as provided in FTR 302-1.1 and 302-2.6. All moving expenses are taxable.

  • In addition, relocation discretionary entitlements May be authorized for this position excluding contractor-provided home sale.

Telework: This position is suitable for telework and may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval.

Additional Vacancies: One or more positions may be filled from applications received under this announcement in the advertised office or other U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service offices in the local commuting area.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP):Department of Interior (DOI) Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) procedures apply in filling this vacancy. CTAP/ICTAP provides placement assistance to permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, applicants must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), score at least 85 on the assessment questionnaire, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. For information on CTAP and ICTAP click here

The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA),P.L. 114-47, allows certain individuals who currently or formerly were under time-limited competitive appointments at certain land management agencies to compete under merit promotion procedures. For Eligibility Information click here: USAJOBS Help Center | Land Management

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 online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Ability to apply systems analysis concepts and techniques; cost-benefit analysis methods; and the translation of functional requirements into design specifications in order to evaluate the feasibility of proposed new systems development projects.
  • Skills applying GIS utility software (such as ArcGIS Desktop, ArcSDE, SQL, Python scripting, Model Builder and others) in order to create, manipulate, organize and disseminate spatial data.
  • Ability to apply the concepts and principles of ecology, biological science, geography and/or natural resource disciplines especially as it relates to land management and species conservation in order to design, develop and maintain biological, ecological and geospatial databases.
  • Skills to communicate orally sufficient to negotiate controversial issues and persuade others regarding the validity of findings, recommendations and decision-making activities; and to establish positive working relationships with people who have widely varying backgrounds, objectives, and goals, including persons and groups with diverse cultural backgrounds.
  • Skills working with scientific data acquisition and analysis standards, methods, and recording techniques to efficiently manage the collection and summation of data and accomplish ecological analysis in a way that is highly credible and meets scientifically acceptable standards.
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


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.

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. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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