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Forestry Technician (Smokejumper) (Crew Section Supervisor)

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Alaska Fire Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Explore a new career with the BLM - where our people are our greatest natural resource.

This position is located in Fairbanks, Alaska. Information about Alaska and the surrounding area can be found at https://dcra-cdo-dcced.opendata.arcgis.com/

We expect to fill 1 vacancy at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/03/2020 to 12/23/2020
Salary
$65,154 to - $93,056 per year

The salary includes base pay and locality pay, you will also receive a 2.86% cost of living allowance. This allowance is subject to annual review.

Pay scale & grade
GS 10 - 11
Location
Fairbanks, AK
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
50% or less - This position requires travel by scheduled or chartered aircraft or ground vehicles to various destinations in the western U.S. for incident assignments lasting up to 14 days.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
AKMP-21-10966521-DG
Control number
586122000

Duties

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  • Makes strategic and tactical decisions on wildland fires based on objectives, priorities, and limitations given by Fire Management Officers (FMO) or other land manager(s).
  • Ensures all Smokejumper Personnel are in compliance with the current DOI Medical Standards and physical fitness requirements.
  • Plans and directs the aerial attack of single or numerous fires from different smokejumper aircraft. Evaluates fire size and behavior, determine personnel and retardant needs, and select the best course of action.
  • Manages daily smokejumper operations, coordinating daily operations of up to five aircraft, multiple liaison officers and spotters, and up to 120 smokejumpers operating in multiple satellite bases.
  • Analyzes and predicts budget needs for all crew supervisor office operations and submits budget proposal for inclusion in the group annual work plan.
  • Supervise positions include the Smokejumper Assistant Crew Supervisor, Smokejumper Spotters, Smokejumper Training Specialists, and Senior Smokejumpers.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Be sure to read the How to Apply and Required Documents Sections.
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license: nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • Direct Deposit Required.
  • Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination.
  • Your resume must contain enough information to show that you meet the qualification requirements as defined in the announcement. In addition, your responses to the questions must adequately reflect in your resume.
  • You must be 18 years of age or older to be assigned to a hazardous position.
  • You must pass a pre-employment physical.
  • You must meet specified levels on annual physical fitness tests, and pass periodic medical exams for wild land fire personnel, commensurate with current incident management qualifications.
  • You must also pass the work capacity test for arduous positions.
  • An applicant appointed to this position must possess (or obtain within 30 days of entrance on duty) and maintain a valid state driver's license while employed in this position.
  • Applicant(s) tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use and to pass the test prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.

Qualifications

Selective Placement Factors: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified:

Prior smokejumping experience is required.

A minimum of 90 days of wildland firefighting experience. Wildland firefighting experience is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression, or use of wildland fire. Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: Wildfires and Prescribed Fires. Wildfires are unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires. Prescribed Fires are planned ignitions. This description includes only fireline experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience.

Specialized Experience: In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

For the GS-10 You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience of forest or range fire control, prevention, or suppression work equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal Service to qualify for the GS-10.

-OR-

Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., in fire management or related major.

- OR-

Have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and education, as described above. To compute this, first determine your education as a percentage of the education requirement and then determine your experience as a percentage of the experience requirement; add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal 100% to qualify. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years may be combined with experience. NOTE: You must provide copies of your official or unofficial college transcripts.

For the GS-11 You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience of forest or range fire control, prevention, or suppression work equivalent to the GS-10 grade level in the Federal Service to qualify for the GS-11.

-OR

Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., in fire management or related major.

- OR-

Have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and education, as described above. To compute this, first determine your education as a percentage of the education requirement and then determine your experience as a percentage of the experience requirement; add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal 100% to qualify. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years may be combined with experience. NOTE: You must provide copies of your official or unofficial college transcripts.

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.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.

This is a SECONDARY/Administrative fire position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age (MEA) policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits(normally through submission of your SF-50). YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION.

Physical Demands: The incumbent must be able to work under extreme physical exertion regularly working 16 hour shifts or longer on the fireline. Work on the fireline requires considerable strenuous physical exertion.

Work Environment: The majority of work is performed outdoors in a wide variety of weather and terrain conditions or in a crowded airplane.

Additional information

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) This vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for this vacancy. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Information about CTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP.

CTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.

SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must certify that they have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. To register or verify your registration go to the Selective Service System at https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx

Travel, per diem, and lodging will not be paid. All travel and lodging expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the sole responsibility of the selected employee.

The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. The selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document, you do not have in electronic form; view the following link for information regarding an Alternative Application

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume must list your education and work experience including the dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and optional salary information. In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. Visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information on What should I include in my federal resume?

Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility. You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.

You will be evaluated based on how your application materials reflect the qualification requirements of this position.

Once the application process is complete, we will review your application to ensure you meet the job requirements. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume, supporting documentation and responses to the online questionnaire will be made. Your responses to the online questionnaire will be used to measure the degree to which your background matches the requirements for this position. However, your resume must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be contacted for an interview.

Your answers to the online questionnaire will be used to evaluate your competencies in the following areas:

Fire Management, Leadership, and Technical Competence

In the evaluation process, due weight will be given to job related experience, education, training, incentive awards and performance appraisals. Applicants must have a performance rating of at least the equivalent of fully successful to be eligible for promotion or placement. Applicants may provide a copy of a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months. If the applicant is unable to provide a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months, the applicant may provide a written explanation as to why.

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