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Meteorologist (Fire)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Interior Regions 6, 7 & 8; Fire and Aviation Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Position is located at the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center (RMCC); Fire and Aviation Management Division; Lakewood, CO.

The incumbent will provide interagency program management, develop new fire weather products, provide advocacy and liaison for wildland fire agencies in the fire weather arena, communicate and coordinate with federal and state interagency fire management staffs, numerous interagency field units, other Coordination Centers, National Weather Service, and other cooperators.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open date: 01/06/2023
Closed date: 01/27/2023
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Employer paid and reimbursed relocation expenses are considered taxable income. The NPS does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. Employees should consult professional tax, legal and accounting advisors regarding concerns about the financial implications of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS).
Salary
$91,753 - $119,280 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel, to include overnight travel, for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
23-58242-IMRFIRE-DE
Control number
697989900

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Duties

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  • Serves as the Assistant Fire Weather Meteorologist for the Geographic Area ensuring the continued availability and adequacy of the operational aspects of the fire weather infrastructure within the Geographic Area.
  • Plans, organizes and directs the management of the fire weather station network, the FDRS (Fire Danger Rating System), and other weather network or data systems within the Geographic Area for the wildland fire agencies.
  • Provides advice and consultation to the Geographic Area Coordinating Group concerning fire weather systems issues.
  • Serves as the lead for the Fire Danger Rating System within the Geographic Area.
  • Ensures preparation and delivery of various weather and climatological products and services including assessments, weather and climatological discussions, summaries, and reports, both routine and non-routine.
  • Manages weather and climatology related portions of Coordination Center Internet web site.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Must be 18 years of age at time of close date of announcement.
  • You will be required to operate a government motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required.
  • You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service fire uniform standards.
  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • Incumbent will be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.

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.

To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount qualified specialized experience.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, go to: Meteorology Series 1340 (opm.gov)

MINIMUM BASIC EDUCATION:

Degree Requirement:
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 meteorology, atmospheric science, or other natural science major that included:

  • At least 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of credit in meteorology/atmospheric science including a minimum of:
    • Six semester hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics;*
    • Six semester hours of analysis and prediction of weather systems (synoptic/mesoscale);
    • Three semester hours of physical meteorology; and
    • Two semester hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere and/or instrumentation.
    • Six semester hours of physics, with at least one course that includes laboratory sessions.*
    • Three semester hours of ordinary differential equations.*
    • At least nine semester hours of course work appropriate for a physical science major in any combination of three or more of the following: physical hydrology, statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, radiative transfer, aeronomy, advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science.

* There is a prerequisite or corequisite of calculus for course work in atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, physics, and differential equations. Calculus courses must be appropriate for a physical science major.

OR
Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
For the GS-12 level:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level.

Examples of specialized experience include: Issuing fire weather forecasts and warnings for wildfires, prescribed burns, herbicide spraying, hazardous spills, pesticide spraying, wildland and wilderness management. Assisting the Agency as well as National Weather Service personnel in development of and provided training for fire management agency courses that included instruction of basic meteorology, weather observations, smoke management, forecasts, warnings, and other services.

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.

A 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.

Physical Demands: Work is primarily performed in an office setting. Prolonged demands of the job include long hours of sitting, intense concentration, and work at peak proficiency level with irregular breaks. The employee may be required to work extended shifts for extensive periods depending upon the level of activity. Travel associated with field visits and other administrative duties is required.

Working Conditions: Work is usually performed in an office setting. However, field travel is not uncommon.

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.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) OR Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): CTAP/ICTAP provides placement assistance to permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF50 noting position, grade level, duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, applicants must be qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. For Information on CTAP and ICTAP visit: Career Transition (opm.gov)

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 will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Education and Training
  • Manages and Organizes Information
  • Physics
  • 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 structured resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

National Park Service

The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

Agency contact information

Lisa Salazar
Phone
505-917-5189
Email
Lisa_Salazar@nps.gov
Address
NPS Regional Office Serving Interior Regions 6,7 and 8
12795 W Alameda Parkway
Lakewood, CO 80228
US

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