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This is a unique opportunity to work in a challenging and dynamic fire & aviation program that provides fire management services for the National Park Service.
Locations hiring for these positions:
Alaska Region - Fairbanks, AK
Midwest Region - Omaha, NE (may be remote)
Northeast Region - Luray, VA
01/18/2023 to 07/19/2023
$57,118 - $89,835 per year
Salary listed is Rest of the United States; Final salary will be set based on the duty location selected.
GS 9 - 11
3 vacancies in the following locations:
No
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel overnights on fire related assignments, training and site visits for this position as needed.
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Permanent -
Full-time -
Competitive
11
0401 General Natural Resources Management And Biological Sciences
No
Yes
NS-Fire-23-11775611-DH
700189100
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. DIRECT HIRING AUTHORITY will be used to fill this position.
Major duties at the GS-9 level:
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 OPM Qualification Standards
To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the close date of this announcement07/19/2023.
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. You must provide a legible copy of your transcript(s).
Selective Placement Factor: Candidates must possess a minimum 90 days of wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. You must clearly demonstrate this experience in your resume, including the months, days and hours per week at which the work was performed in order to be considered. 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. 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 fires as follows: Wildfire: Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires. Prescribed Fires: 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.
Basic Education Qualification Requirements:
Degree inBiological Sciences, Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
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 biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, fire science, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
-OR-
Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major field of study that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, fire science, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Related coursework generally refers to courses that may be accepted as part of the program major.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Courses equivalent to a major may be defined as 24 semester hours in biological sciences, natural resources, wildland fire management, forestry or agriculture equivalent to a major field, of study, plus appropriate experience or additional education that is comparable to that acquired through successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in the biological sciences, agriculture, or natural resources.
In addition to the requirements described above, the following experience is required for the grade(s) specified.
To qualify for this position at the GS-09 level, you must possess one of the following:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position 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: Wildland fire activities (such as planning an/or implementing prescribed fire or managing wildfire) to ensure resource objectives can be met from a fire management standpoint; Developing and/or implementing initial attack incident management strategies and tactics to meet the stated resource objectives; Implementing mitigation measures during wildland fire activities to protect sensitive habitats, endangered species, sensitive plants, or cultural values.
-OR-
B. Successful completion of at least a Master's (or equivalent graduate degree). You must provide a copy of your transcript(s).
-OR-
C. 2 academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree. You must provide a copy of your transcript(s).
To qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must possess one of the following:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service, or equivalent, which includes the following: Providing advice and technical support to fire management officers and land or resource management staff; ensuring fire management plans are consistent with and complement land or resource management plans, are consistent with enabling laws, policies, regulations, and environmental mandates such as National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Air Act, National Historic Preservation Act, etc.; exchanging and presenting technical and policy information to groups of others at management meetings, professional conferences, and other events; use of geospatial information technology in strategic fire management planning, ensuring fire management plan updates are timely, accurate, and defensible within established standards; reviewing fire management data for adequacy, appropriateness, and accuracy; incorporating decision support tools and modeling into strategic response and planning; guiding field units on data collection and evaluation of hazard risk, fuels, historic fire occurrence, fire effects, climatology, and weather.
Prescribed fire/fuels management: Examples of this type of experience may include: Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures (e.g., Brown's planar intercepts for dead and down fuels; live fuel loading assessments); Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods (i.e. prescribed fire, mechanical, chemical, or biological treatments); Land use planning and environmental compliance; 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.
Fire management operations: Experience in analyzing and/or applying fire management strategies in at least five of the following activities:
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
-OR-
3 academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree.
When submitting college transcripts, 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.
This notice is being issued to recruit personnel to occupations for which a critical hiring need has been identified. To assist in filling these positions, OPM has granted the Department of the Interior "Direct Hire Authority".
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.
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: Much of the work is performed in an office setting. Field work requires the ability to travel into the backcountry on foot involving exposure to a rough terrain, burned areas with tree hazards, and wildlife hazards (bears or moose). Access to the field may require flights on small, fixed wing aircraft or helicopters. The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting, and carrying heavy objects.
Working Conditions: : Most work is in the office setting. Occasionally some exposure to discomfort or risk is encountered on during travel and site visits such as extreme heat or cold, or exposure to fire situations. In support of fireline operations, Nomex clothes, boots, and other protective clothing will be worn were appropriate. outdoors in all types of weather.
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.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applicants will be evaluated based on how whether they meet the qualification requirements.
Upon receipt of the completed application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure basic qualification requirements are met.
This vacancy will be filled through a Direct Hire Authority. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this Authority. All qualified applicants, as determined by the SHRO, will be referred for consideration. While managers and supervisors are not required to conduct interviews, it is highly recommended that they do so in order to assess the competencies of each applicant.
If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted.
If a determination is made that an applicant has inflated qualifications or experience on the resume, the applicant will receive no consideration for the position, as per OPM regulations.
This is a secondary-administrative firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S. C. 8336 (c) (CSRS) and 5 U. S. C. 8412 (d) (FERS). PLEASE NOTE: Applicants may meet qualification requirements but may not be eligible for special retirement coverage. If such an applicant is selected, they will be placed in the regular retirement system. FERS TRANSITION REQUIREMENT: To be eligible for Secondary retirement coverage under FERS, an employee must: 1) transfer directly (without a break in service exceeding 3 days) from a primary position to a secondary position, AND 2) complete 3 years of service in a primary rigorous position including any such service during which no FERS deductions were withheld, AND 3) must be continuously employed in a secondary position(s) since moving from a primary rigorous position, except for any break in employment from a secondary position that began with involuntary separation (not for cause). It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your special retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your work history or other documentation that demonstrates work history of approved covered positions). You must let this office know if you are in a Primary coverage position.
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)
The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/19/2023:
Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.
Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
To apply for this position: You must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To receive consideration, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/19/2023.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT FAXED IN, HARD COPY OR EMAILED APPLICATIONS.
Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account.
Once the Occupational Questionnaire is received you will receive acknowledgement that your submission was successful. If you are among the qualified candidates, your name will be referred to the hiring official, and you may be contacted directly for a possible interview. You will be notified of the status of your Application Package at the time candidates are referred for consideration, and when the selection process is complete.
Standing Register Open Continuous Information: Cutoffs will be used to manage applicant pools for this announcement. Consideration will be given to candidates in sequential order within each group as depicted below as each group is exhausted. Qualifications along with other requirements must be met for those applications submitted by the cut-off date. Applicants from the first group are entered onto the inventory at the same, and those who apply later are entered as they are rated.
Cutoff Dates:
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/700189100. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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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.
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