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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located on the Shawnee National Forest in either Harrisburg, Vienna, or Jonesboro, IL.

The position manages heritage/cultural resources program activities, and serves as a key liaison and consultant to removed Native American tribes and as the primary forest liaison with the State Historic Preservation Officer.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Tim Pohlman, at 618-658-1326 or timothy.pohlman@usda.gov.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
01/11/2022 to 01/20/2022
Salary
$66,214 to - $103,176 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Harrisburg, IL
Jonesboro, IL
Vienna, IL
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel for meeting, training, or site visits may be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
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
22-R9SVOCT-0908-855693G-LD
Control number
630537900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current permanent federal employees with competitive status, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP and VEOA eligibles, Farm Service Agency permanent county employees, 30 percent or More Disabled Veterans, Certain Former Overseas and Foreign Service Employees, Military Spouses, Interchange Agreement and Other Miscellaneous Authorities, People with Disabilities, Peace Corps and VISTA, Reinstatement, Public Land Corps, Resource Assistant Program, and VRA eligibles (GS-11 only).

Duties

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  • Duties are listed at the full performance level GS-12.
  • Administer heritage/cultural resources program including public historical and interpretive information, evaluative research, safeguarding archeological sites and artifacts, and related activities.
  • Interpret and implement directives to ensure program consistency and that professional standards are met.
  • Advise management on requirements, impacts, and consequences of current legislation and directives.
  • Coordinate, consult and work closely with state preservation offices, in carrying out preservation mandates, interpretive initiatives, register nominations, and overall program development.
  • Identify cultural resources requirements to be met in preparing environmental and planning documents.
  • Determine inventory levels and protection measures, and ensure measures and requirements are incorporated in project plans and special use permits.
  • Identify issues and concerns to develop resolution strategies and provide comprehensive recommendations to management.
  • Act as liaison between the unit and Native American groups regarding unit policy, tribal concerns and requests for archeological information.
  • Partner with and/or negotiate with heritage staff and personnel from the Department of Natural Resources which oversees state historic preservation programming.
  • Prepare technical approval for documentation submitted for program matters, including national register eligibility.
  • Assess adverse impacts to heritage sites and recommend solutions for resolution.

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
  • Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If selected, must submit proof of vaccination or request a religious or reasonable accommodation.

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-0193:
A. Education
1. 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 that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:

  • History of archeology.
  • 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.
  • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
  • 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.
  • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
AND
  • Six semester hours of related course work 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
2. Related Curriculum: Degree in anthropology from an accredited college or university, (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

B. 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

C. 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.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience include: Performed standard tasks or portions of larger projects of an archeological program, such as conducted performance studies and examined historical research documents pertaining to project development; Interpreted cultural resources to public and professional audiences through presentations, exhibit development, or publication in professional journals; Assisted professional archeologists in developing/enhancing archeological program components, such as scientific reporting, records and database management, and cultural resource condition monitoring; Evaluated problems associated with archeological site protection and implemented corrective measures within the framework of archeological program and legal requirements.

For the GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level. Examples of specialized experience include: Planned, directed, coordinated and executed surveys for the location and verification of archeological and historical sites and provided guidance to the line management in marking, protection, and salvage of these sites; Evaluated archeological and historical sites to identify which are appropriate for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places; Directed the preparation of maps, inventories, reports, and records relative to the discovery, protection, inventory, salvage, and interpretation of heritage and cultural resource areas; Consulted and worked with recognized tribal governments under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation (NAGPRA).

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.

Education

See Qualifications section.

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 leave without pay 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

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 neither implied or 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.
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/

This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by NFFE (National Federation of Federal Employees).

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:

  • History and Archaeology
  • Oral Communication
  • Partnering
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • 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/11348983

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