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Biologist - Nursery Manager (Plants)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Grand Canyon National Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Grand Canyon National Park, in the Science and Resource Management Division.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/02/2022 to 03/15/2022
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$44,740 to - $71,146 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
Grand Canyon, AZ
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
IM-1541-GRCA-22-11405026-ST
Control number
639968000

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Duties

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- Propagate native plants from seed and cuttings, monitor greenhouse climate control systems, operate and maintain indoor and outdoor irrigation systems and propagation chambers, propagate and monitor threatened and endangered plant species, and conduct vegetation monitoring.
- Plan, schedule, coordinate, and implement a wide variety of habitat restoration activities.
- Execute data management activities including data entry, implementing quality control measures, and data analysis.
- Supervise and evaluate performance of technicians, interns, youth conservation corps, and volunteers.
- Intertwine health, safety, and wellness awareness and Operational Leadership into all aspects of daily operations.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males
  • Direct Deposit: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Time-in-Grade: Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
  • Uniform: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • Work Schedule: You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • Probationary Period: If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • Travel: You may be required to travel overnight away from home for training. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • Government Charge Card: You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • Minimum Age Requirement: Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-03/15/2022-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To be minimally qualified for this position you must possess the required education, combination of education in a related discipline, or a combination of education and experience. This is a basic requirement for this series. To meet this basic requirements, you must have one of the following. You must submit transcripts to verify this requirement or you will not be considered for the position:

Education: I have successfully completed a course of study leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biology, ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, botany, chemistry, agriculture, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
-OR-
Education and Experience: I have a combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major described above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. My resume reflects the experience used to meet this requirement.

- In addition to the basic requirement, you must meet the minimum requirements for the grade level, shown below -

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience includes: performing native plant material collection activities; performing native plant propagation activities in a greenhouse/nursery setting; conducting vegetation surveys in remote or backcountry locations; coordinating logistics of field work activities, such as scheduling, food purchases, equipment, and transportation; training, instructing and overseeing others in the use of biological survey data collection equipment and techniques; summarizing data for portions of reports in the form of text, graphs, and charts.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate level education at an accredited college or university concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of this position, such as in biology, ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, botany, chemistry, agriculture, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts with your application materials.
-OR-
Meet the requirements for Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A). I have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and meet the requirements for S.A.A based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership as outlined in the job announcement. You must include transcripts or other material with your application materials that prove how you meet this requirement.
-OR-
Successful combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major described above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must include transcripts with your application materials.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience at this level is defined as having 3 out of 4 of the following: using botanical keys, plant association guides, and other technical guides to classify ecological habitats, vegetation community productivity, and land use; interpreting standard procedures and ensuring that collected botanical data is in compliance with established protocols; assisting with training biological science technician personnel to follow established guidelines in order to obtain multi-resource information; and conducting ecological inventories, assessments, and monitoring studies to achieve resource management goals.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited educational institution concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of this position, such as in biology, ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, botany, chemistry, agriculture, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts with your application materials.
-OR-
Successful combination of education and experience. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 27 semester hours or 41 quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement). You must include transcripts with your application materials.

Driver's License: You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.

Volunteer Experience: 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

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Promotion Potential: Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

Physical Demands: The work requires regular physical exertion such as walking or climbing over wet, rough, uneven and/or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping or reaching to observe, collect and/or record field data; or in some situations the work may require physical exertion to scuba dive or operate a boat. Moderately heavy items, such as equipment packs weighing up to 50 pounds, must be lifted and carried on a regular basis. May be required to hike several miles in a day.

Working Conditions: The work environment varies from office/laboratory settings to field sites. The work performed in the field involves regular and recurring exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, poisonous plants, biting insects and wild animals.

Telework: The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

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 well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Botany
  • Financial Management
  • Managing Human Resources
  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Research
  • Technology Application

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

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

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