Clarification from the agency

This Job is open to: U.S. Citizens

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a diverse workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; join DHS.

When disaster strikes, America looks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Now FEMA looks to you. Join our team and use your talent to support Americans in their times of greatest need. FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages Federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. We foster innovation, reward performance and creativity, and provide challenges on a routine basis with a well-skilled, knowledgeable, high performance workforce. Please visit www.fema.gov for additional information.

EMERGENCY ASSIGNMENT: Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

In this position, you will serve as an Archeologist for Region Nine, Mitigation Division. Typical assignments include:

• Reviewing and evaluating Mitigation and Recovery Division Public Assistance/Individual Assistance grants submitted by State, Tribal, and loval governments for FEMA approval in accordance with the Stafford Act and app applicable environmental and historic preservation laws, regulations and executive orders.
• Serving as the regional archeologist, providing technical advice to the EHP Program concerning archaeological resources.
• Providing technical guidance to State, Tribal, and local officials in the development of sound plans and construction strategies to reduce potential adverse impacts to natural or cultural resources.
• Consulting with and developing partnerships with State, Tribal, and local officials, and assisting partners in establishing priorities for incorporation of EHP values into project planning.

Promotion Potential: Positions filled under Stafford Act regulations generally do not have documented promotion potential; however, dependent on an employee’s ability to perform higher level duties, the continuing need for an employee to perform work associated with a higher level position, and administrative recommendation and approval, promotions may be earned by CORE employees.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to be considered for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• Travel will be required.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
• Selective service registration is required for males born after 12/31/59.
• Please review "Other Information" section for additional key requirements.

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Qualifications

The qualification requirements listed below must be met within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Basic Requirements:

1. Education:

      Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:

• History of archeology.
• Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
• 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.
• Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
• 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.

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.

Related Curriculum: degree in anthropology (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

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

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 requirements above, candidates must also meet the specialized experience requirements as follows:

To qualify for this position at the IC-12 level, your resume must clearly demonstrate at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (IC-11) in the Federal Service.  This experience may have been gained in the federal government, a state or local government, a non-profit organization, the private sector, or as a volunteer; however, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of the following specialized experience: 

1. Applying environmental or historic preservation laws, regulations, or executive orders associated with federal funding actions;
2. Compiling and analyzing reports and data related to historic preservation, and;
3. Communicating findings, both orally and in writing, to stakeholders such as state historic preservation offices and tribes under the Section 106, National Historic Preservation Act.

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.

Your application must show that you meet all requirements for this position. You may be found “not qualified” if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position.

NOTE: Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. For a brief video on How to Create a Federal Resume, click here. NOTE: If you are using the USAJOBS Resume Builder, please insert the dates of employment in MM/DD/YY format at the top of the “Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills” text field for each period of employment included on your resume. 

Current or former FEMA Reservists/DAE employees: To accurately credit your experience for these intermittent positions, make sure to list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of each deployment, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.  Failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume, supporting documentation, and your responses to the occupational questionnaire to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements.  If you are qualified, you may be referred to a selection panel for consideration.

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process.

Interview Requirement.  Interviews may be required for this position.  Failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration.