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Career Seasonal: Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work from approximately January through mid-December, and you will be in a non-pay status for at least two consecutive weeks.

Major Duties:

• Horticulture - Collect native plant seed, prepare seed for long-term storage, prepare soil mixes for nursery grown plants, propagate plants from seed and cuttings, care for nursery plants.
• Restoration - remove off road vehicle tracks using manual and/or mechanical methods; revegetate disturbed sites with nursery grown plants and native plant seed.
• Pest Control - Use manual, mechanical and chemical methods to control invasive plants; document areas and species treated and methods used.
• Mechanical - Clear, sharpen and repair tools; keep tools in good working order.
• Data Management - Enter data, ensure quality of data, organize digital data and photos, manage GPS and GIS data, prepare summary reports.

Additional Duties for GS-07:

• Lead a field team of lower graded technicians, interns, or volunteers.
• Use Field Maps and Survey 123 to create forms for collecting field data.

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

Area Information:
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is located in the Sonoran desert in Southwestern Arizona. Park headquarters is located 34 miles from Ajo, Arizona and 5 miles north of the international boundary with Mexico. Organ Pipe is a winter paradise and a surprisingly lush and green environment. Daytime temperatures typically range from the 60's in the winter to over 100 in the summer, with dramatic monsoons later in the summer.

The local towns and communities provide multiple amenities and a thriving Art's community that allow families and individuals to easily adjust to living in the desert. In Ajo (population 3,500) you will find a few local restaurants and coffee shops, a grocery and hardware store, a medical clinic, multiple churches, a public library, a county park with playground, swimming pool, ball parks and community center, and an active Park and Recreation Department, a K-12 school system, and several active community organizations who sponsor events and festivals on a regular basis, including a weekly Farmers Market. Phoenix, Arizona is a one-and-a-half-hour drive north from Ajo; Tucson is a two-hour drive east from Ajo. Both cities offer a greater selection of amenities. Most employees plan trips to Phoenix or Tucson once or twice a month. More information is available from the Ajo Chamber of Commerce, http://www.ajochamber.com/.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• 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. 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.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• 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.
• 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 obtain an Arizona pesticide applicators license within one year of the entry-on-duty (EOD) date.
• 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-06/07/2023-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.

This position has a basic requirement that must be met by the close of the announcement Botany Series 0430 (opm.gov). Applicants must have one of the following and submit documentation in their application on how they meet this requirement:

1. Degree: botany; or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany.

   or

2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in botany or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Evaluation of Education: Courses in basic botany, plant anatomy or morphology, cytology, histology, genetics, taxonomy or systematics, algology, mycology, ethnobotany, and those dealing with specific problems of a botanical nature or with specific groups of plants are qualifying. You must provide transcripts in your application.
- AND -
To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EDUCATION: Successfully completed four full years of education above high school (at least 120 semester hours) leading to a bachelor's degree or higher with major study or at least 24 semester hours in basic botany, plant anatomy or morphology, cytology, histology, genetics, taxonomy or systematics, algology, mycology, ethnobotany, and those dealing with specific problems of a botanical nature or with specific groups of plants are qualifying. Applicants who meet the basic requirements described in the individual occupational requirements are fully qualified for the specified entry grade (generally grade GS-5). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience. Courses equivalent to a major in botany or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

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). This experience includes activities such as: (1) work in a nursery, home garden or participation on non-native plant (i.e. weed) removal projects, plant community inventory or monitoring projects; (2) work with projects that involved data collection, data entry, data organization; (3) work with projects that required navigating over open terrain to collect data using Geographic Positioning System (GPS) units. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successfully completed at least one full year (defined as the number of hours that the school attended determined to represent one full year of fulltime study; if unavailable, then 18 semester credits will be considered as satisfying the requirement) of progressively higher graduate education leading to a masters degree or masters or equivalent graduate degree in a field of study directly related to the position, (e.g., botany, plant science). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of at least a Bachelor's degree in a directly-related field (as described in above) AND I meet one of the criteria of Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.): (1) Class standing - Must be in the upper third of the 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 course; OR (2) Grade-point average (G.P.A) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on four years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final two years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final two years of the curriculum; OR (3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society. For a detailed description of Superior Academic Achievement, please visit the Superior Academic Achievement website. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have an equivalent combination of education and experience (i.e., 6 months of specialized experience and 9 graduate semester credits directly related to the work of this position.). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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.

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 additional assessments required for this position. 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 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.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Botany
• Horticulture
• Leadership
• Mechanical
• Pest Control
• Physical Strength and Agility
• Technology Application

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 successful completion of additional assessments, including a subject matter expert panel resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.