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Fire Management Specialist (Prescribed Fire and Fuels)

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Fairbanks District Office
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://alaska.gov/communit.html

We expect to fill one 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
08/20/2021 to 09/07/2021
Salary
$59,756 to - $93,994 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 9 - 11
Location
Fairbanks, AK
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - May be required to live in backcountry camps for extended periods of time. The hazardous nature of the work requires that personal protective equipment be worn (boots, hardhat, gloves, flame resistant clothing, etc.). Work may require travel by light fixed-wing or rotor-wing aircraft.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Travel and relocation expenses will be paid consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation, Chapter 302, and Departmental policy. Selectee will be responsible for tax obligations related to payments for moving expenses - 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act, Public Law 115-97. See "Other" section for additional information on 2017 Tax Cuts as related to PCS.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
AKMP-21-11208265-JE
Control number
611655900

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Duties

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  • Provide professional advice and assistance to meet resource management objectives for prescribed fire, fuels management, and smoke management.
  • Perform fiscal analysis, formulate the annual fuels management budget, and maintain a system of accounts to track program expenditures.
  • Design and implement fuels management surveys to document presence, amount, and types of hazardous fuels. Utilize the results of the surveys to prioritize prescribed fire and fuels management projects
  • Develop fuels treatment alternatives to support specific management decisions while adhering to applicable laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines.
  • Evaluate individual fuels treatments as well as the effectiveness of the overall fuels management program and make program changes based on evaluation findings.

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.
  • This position requires regular and recurring overtime and shift work.
  • 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.
  • BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.

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:

This position is subject to the lnteragency Fire Program (IFPM) Standard and Guide selective placement factors for a Prescribed Fire and Fuels Specialist. This position requires the following qualifications - Currency Not Required:

  • Have held or currently hold at least ONE of the following NWCG qualifications or higher: Engine Boss (ENGB) or Crew Boss (CRWB) or Firing Boss (FIRB), or Helicopter Manager (HMGB)
  • Have held or currently hold the NWCG qualification Incident Commander Type 4 (ICT4) or higher
90 Day Prior Wildland Firefighting Experience Requirement (resume must show to and from dates and a description of work performed). The Department of the Interior defines wild land firefighting experience as on-the-line wildland firefighting experience gained through containment, control, suppression, or use of wild land fire. This experience can be met by serving in a temporary, seasonal, or equivalent private sector fire position for no less than 90 days. Periods of wildland firefighting experience, gained through militia and rural fire departments, can also be credited, as long as the total amount of this experience equates to at least 90 days.

Wildland fire is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Two distinct types of wildland fire have been defined and include wildfire and prescribed fire:

Wildfire - An unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires.

Prescribed Fire - Planned ignitions. This description includes only fire line 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.

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.

GS-9: In addition to meeting the education requirement, you must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-07 level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity: Experience must demonstrate an understanding of fire behavior relative to fuels, weather, and topography and how fire affects natural and cultural resources. Examples of experience may include: 1) Wildland fire activities (such as planning and/or implementing prescribed fire or managing wildfires) to ensure resource objectives can be met from a fire management standpoint; 2) Developing and/or implementing initial attack incident management strategies and tactics to meet the stated resources; or 3) Implementing mitigation measures during wildland fire activities to protect sensitive habitats, endangered species, sensitive plants, or cultural values.

-OR-

Education: successful completion of two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in fire science, fire management, or a closely related discipline.

- OR-

Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

GS-11: In addition to meeting the education requirement, you must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-09 level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity: Specialized experience includes Fire Program Management elements such as 1) Developing, reviewing and evaluating fire management plans for ecological soundness, or consistency with land management goals and/or potentially adverse impacts to cultural and natural resources; 2) Conducting field inspections before and after prescribed or wildfires to determine if resource objectives were achieved and/or to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken; and 3) Analyzing the ecological role of fire and its use and/or exclusion, and smoke management. In addition to the Fire Program Management elements, experience must have included EITHER Prescribed Fire/Fuels Management or Fire Management Operations. Prescribed fire/fuels management: Examples of this type of experience may include: 1) Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures e.g., Brown's planar intercept for dead and down fuels or live fuel loading assessments; 2) Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods (i.e. prescribed fire, mechanical, chemical, or biological treatments); 3) Land use planning and environmental compliance; or 4) Evaluation of prescribed burn plans or fire management plans to ensure fire containment is possible and identification of appropriate suppression contingencies if fire containment is not obtained OR Fire Management Operations - Experience analyzing and/or applying fire management strategies in at least 5 of the following: 1) Mobilization and dispatch coordination; 2) Fire prevention and education; 3) Training; 4) Logistics; 5) Equipment development and deployment; 6) Fire communication systems; 7) Suppression and preparedness; and 8) Aviation.

-OR-

Education: Successful completion of 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading towards a Ph.D. or Ph.D. or equivalent degree in Fire Science, Fire Management, or a related degree.

- OR-

Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

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.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement which requires that you have a degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, or a combination of education and experience---courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

If using education to qualify, you must submit copies of all transcripts or a list of college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. See Required Documents section for more information.

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 E-Verify.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well qualified for the position with a score of 90 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: CTAP or ICTAP

Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service

Tax Law Impact for PCS: Moving expenses reimbursement is a taxable benefit. However, the Federal Travel Regulation 18-05 issued by General Services Administration has authorized agencies to use the Withholding Tax Allowance and Relocation Income Tax Allowance to pay for "substantially all" of the increased tax liability resulting from the "2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" for certain eligible individuals.

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.

Physical Demands: Field work is arduous and the duties include demands for strenuous activities in emergencies under adverse environmental conditions and over extended periods of time.

Work Environment: Field conditions are performed in various conditions and often involve steep terrain where surfaces may be extremely uneven, rocky, covered with vegetation, and in smoky conditions. Temperatures vary from above 100 degrees F to below freezing. Risks include smoke inhalation, fire entrapment, snake or insect bites and stings, exposure to excessive machinery noise, and falling and rolling material. Exposure to adverse weather elements, dust and smoke, poor sleeping and eating conditions and unpredictable sets of circumstances.

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.

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:

  • Financial Management
  • Fire Management
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • 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.

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 structured resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

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