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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Multiple positions are located within Region 5, Pacific Southwest Region.

The incumbent is responsible for inventory, evaluation, and advice on heritage and cultural resource management, including determination of effects of projects on cultural resources and recommended mitigation.

For additional information about the duties of this position and duty locations, please contact Susan White at 707-980-1606 or susan.white@usda.gov

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/24/2023 to 09/07/2023
Salary
$46,696 to - $57,118 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
Alpine, CA
3 vacancies
Alturas, CA
1 vacancy
Arcadia, CA
1 vacancy
Corona, CA
3 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy and may vary by location.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for meetings, training and/or work-related projects.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9 - Full Performance level varies by location.
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
23-R5-GVA-12081647-DP-AN
Control number
745198600

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Duties

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  • Perform archeological inventory to identify and assess the resources within the area that may be impacted by proposed projects.
  • Utilize archeological principles, practices, and concepts in order to develop cultural resource programs.
  • Interpret heritage and cultural resource areas.
  • Search for and gather information and analyze data.
  • Interpret heritage and cultural resources to the public and professional contacts through presentations at visitor facilities and professional conferences.
  • Provide heritage and cultural resource management orientation to personnel on statutes, regulations and purpose of work to be performed.
  • Provide advice on management of Heritage and Cultural Resources Program.
  • Effectively communicate with various government agencies, community organization, youth group, and community volunteer groups.
  • Assist in developing partnership agreements.
  • Coordinate the budget and project plan of work for archeological and cultural activities.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service 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 E-Verify.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. 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-193: 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 coursework 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. 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 in A.1 (including archeological field school).
OR
Combination of Education and Experience
College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.
OR
Experience 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.

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:

GS-07
: One (1) year (18 semester hours) of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement;

OR one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level. Specialized experience is defined as two or more of the following; Conducted routine field reconnaissance searches; and/or identified and marked archeological sites, prepared site location maps, recorded findings, photographed artifact findings, and prepared sites sketches as necessary; and/or assisted in searching for and examining historical records and findings of other archeological experts.

OR Superior Academic Achievement (SSA) with a bachelor's degree in a field that is qualifying for this position and one of the following: graduated in the upper third of the college graduating class; member of a national honor society (excluding freshman honor society); had a 3.0 GPA or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or had 3.5 GPA or higher out of a possible 4.0 on the average of all required courses completed in the major or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum (GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, i.e., 2.95 rounds to 3.0 and 2.94 rounds to 2.9).

OR a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience that together meets this requirement.

GS-09: Two (2) years (36 semester hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree;

OR one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following; Assisted in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development; and/or participated in archeological survey and site evaluation work and preparation of technical reports; and/or interpreted cultural resources to public contacts in one-on-one conversations; and/or received formal and on-the-job instructions and training on the practical application of archeological principles, theories, methods, practices, and techniques; and/or 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 a combination of graduate level education (in excess of 18 semester hours) and specialized experience that together meets this requirement.

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.

Education

See Qualification Section for educational requirements of this position.

Additional information

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

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.

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.

Telework eligibility varies upon 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/

These are bargaining unit position.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing availability varies upon location

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 in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. 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 up to including removal from the Federal service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12081647

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