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Botanist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
Intermountain Region, Region 4; Boise National Forest; Mountain Home Ranger District
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Intermountain Region, Region 4; Boise National Forest; Mountain Home Ranger District, Mountain Home, Idaho.

The incumbent has responsibility for providing professional, scientific assistance to the staff pertaining to a variety of botanical and sensitive plant species duties in support of Forest activities.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Stephaney Kerley at 208-587-7830 or stephaney.kerley@usda.gov

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
10/22/2019 to 11/04/2019
Salary
$51,440 to - $80,912 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Mountain Home, ID
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required for site visits, conferences and meetings.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Relocation expenses may be reimbursed at the discretion of management in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
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
20-R4SVSEP-0402-631134G-GS
Control number
549366400

Duties

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  • All duties listed are at the full performance level of the GS-11.
  • Provide technical expertise and assistance in matters dealing with threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species, plant community and vegetation management.
  • Monitor effects of activities on plant communities and interpret trends where management emphasis changes.
  • Responsible for identification, management and plant ecology, ensuring consistency in programs designed to manage and protect specific plants species.
  • Conduct training in habitat analysis, plant identification, and documentation in accordance with management plans and objectives.
  • Develop an annual program of work and implement restoration projects.
  • Provide expertise and interpret complex botanical situations on interdisciplinary teams involving specialists from other management groups and agencies.
  • Develop and conduct a monitoring program at selected plant sites.
  • Design and conduct environmental data collection field surveys and maintain inventory of plant occurrence records.
  • Prepare botanical reports for various environmental documents and prepare biological evaluations/assessments that conform to legal and agency policy requirements and guidelines.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or 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 e-verify.gov

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-0430:
Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in: botany; or basic plant science that included at least 24 semester hours in botany. 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.
OR
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 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

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-09 level you must have one (1) year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. To qualify you must demonstrate that you meet 1 of the following specialized experience examples: Participated in the evaluation and monitoring of the threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species and plant community and vegetation management programs. Located, surveyed, identified, and recorded threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species information in order to meet environmental assessment requirements. Collected and summarized data and administered plant species projects.
OR
a 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 demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

For the GS-11 level you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. To qualify you must demonstrate that you meet 1 of the following specialized experience examples: Developed, evaluated, and monitored threatened, endangered and sensitive plant species and plant community and vegetation management programs; conducted and oversaw vegetation inventories, population, and community monitoring; assisted in the development and implementation of management plans for the protection and enhancement of habitat for special status plants.
OR
3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled);
OR
an appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).

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.

Additional information

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 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.

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).

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. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status (such as LWOP) is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County 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 serve a 1-year probationary period.

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

This position is being concurrently announced under Delegated Examining (or Demo) Number 20-R4SVSEP-0402-631134DP-GS. This announcement is open to all qualified candidates. Applying to both announcements may expand the possibilities of consideration since different referral criteria apply to each type of announcement. See the above announcement for more information.

PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 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.

Selectee will be responsible for tax obligations related to payments for moving expenses - 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act, Public Law 115-97. Questions should be directed to the Travel help Desk, 877-372-7248, Option 1, or email

asc_tos@fs.fed.us

.

This is a bargaining unit designated position.

This is a bargaining unit position represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees, IAMAW.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing is not available
This position is eligible for telework and other flexible work arrangements.

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:

  • Botany
  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Technical Competence
  • Writing


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 the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10634848

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