Skip to main content
U.S. flag

Park Ranger (I)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Big Bend National Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Big Bend National Park, within the Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services..

Open to the first 60 applicants or until 04/05/2023 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Posted 03/22/23
This job will close when we have received 60 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Salary
$46,696 - $74,250 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Promotion potential
9
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to 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
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
IM-1538-BIBE-23-11898549-ST
Control number
714641700

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

All current or former career/career-conditional federal employees with competitive/reinstatement eligibility; Eligible applicants under: Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); CTAP/ICTAP within the local commuting area; Non-Competitive Hiring Authorities; Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA); All former PLC members meeting PLC requirements.

Videos

Duties

Help

Staffs visitor centers providing park visitors general and in-depth park information, handling situations as they arise, operating fee collection registers, and issuing backcountry permits. Manages one of the park's visitor centers and visitor center volunteers.

Provides informal and formal interpretive programs that are researched and written and offer intellectual and emotional connections with park resources and a preservation message for park visitors.

Writes articles and text for park newspapers, websites, social media sites and exhibits that are informational and interpretive in nature.

Collateral duties for one of the two vacant positions will include graphic design responsibilities, involving professional production of wayside exhibits, interpretive panels, site bulletins, and other interpretive media; park website coordinator; and/or social media program coordinator.

Collateral duties for the second vacant position will include serving as the education program lead, involving development of a distance learning program, outreach to regional schools, and contact with school groups coming into the park.

Area Information:
Big Bend is a spectacular and very remote national park, situated on the US-Mexico border. Encompassing 800,000 acres, Big Bend along with Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River protects the finest and most extensive expanse of Chihuahuan desert and mountain topography in the United States. This is a land of dramatic contrasts - of lofty, wooded peaks and river-swept floodplains - dominated by great expanses of Chihuahuan Desert, containing spectacular geologic features and other impressive landforms. Average visitation is 500,000 and growing! Big Bend NP is beloved as one of the few large public lands in Texas. Major activities include camping, backpacking, hiking, birdwatching, river trips, enjoying the spring cactus bloom, exploring backcountry roads, and simply getting away from it all.

Open year round, Big Bend is primarily a winter park. The main visitor season runs from November through April. The climate is generally dry and pleasant with beautiful mild winters (40-70 degrees F.) and hot summers (90-110+ degrees F.). Visitor facilities include five visitor centers, post office, two gas stations, three camper stores, three NPS campgrounds, concession-operated lodge, restaurant and RV park.). A port of entry provides pedestrian access to the small village of Boquillas, Mexico.

Although remote, Big Bend has an active residential community. The Park community consists of ~250 people, including employees of the NPS, Concession, Cooperating Association, U.S. Border Patrol, Postal Service, San Vicente School personnel, and their families living in four housing areas: Panther Junction, Chisos Basin, Castolon, and Rio Grande Village. The park's employee association, Casa Grande, provides a variety of social events, potlucks, and community get togethers throughout the year.

A state-accredited elementary school (K-8) is located at Panther Junction. Cellular phone service is spotty throughout the park area. Satellite radio and television, as well as DSL internet service, are available for purchase.

Terlingua (30 miles away) has a state-accredited High School (no bus service), lodging, restaurants, hardware store, small grocery, churches, and a bank. Alpine, Texas (100 miles away) has most necessities, including supermarkets, a variety of stores, hospital, pharmacies, churches, movie theater, and university. The nearest larger cities are Midland/Odessa (225 miles away) and El Paso (325 miles away).

For additional information about living/working in Big Bend, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/bigbendareainfo

To learn more about the wonders of Big Bend National Park, please visit: www.nps.gov/bibe.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • 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.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required.
  • Government housing maybe available.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • 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.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • 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.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/05/2023-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 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized 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.

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 qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least 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). This experience includes activities such as: Park guide or tour leader. Law enforcement or investigative work. Archeological or historical preservation research work. Forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area. Management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one year of graduate level study (18 hours) in directly related fields such as natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of GS-05 specialized experience described above (50% of experience) and one-half year of graduate level (9 hours) college study in a directly related field of study as described above (50% of education). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Meet the criteria for Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) as evidenced by one of the three following methods: I am in the upper third of my graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR I have a GPA 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in my major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR I am a member in one of the national scholastic honor societies.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least 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). This experience includes activities such as: Park guide or tour leader. Law enforcement or investigative work. Archeological or historical preservation research work. Forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area. Management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of two (2) full academic years (36 graduate hours) of progressively higher level graduate education, or a master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation, such as natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of GS-07 specialized experience as described above (50% of experience) and one year (18 graduate hours) of graduate level college study in a directly related field of study as described above (50% of education). You must include transcripts.

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.

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 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.

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.

Physical Demands: The work requires some physical exertion and can involve extensive periods of standing and walking, in some cases over rough surfaces or inclines outdoors or in caves, and carrying backpacks, tools, rescue equipment, or other loads. Some employees may engage in firefighting, search and rescue, and other strenuous activities; these employees may be required to lift or carry equipment weighing more than 50 pounds over long distances.

Working Conditions: The work can include moderate risks or discomforts that require safety precautions (e.g., exposure to extreme temperatures, climates, rough terrain, wild animals, pests, and/or insects). The incumbent may be required to use protective clothing or gear, such as masks, boots, gloves, etc.

The employees of the National Park Service care for special places that are the heritage of all Americans. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has been dedicated to the preservation and management of this country's outstanding natural, historical, and recreational resources. Park ranger - interpreters connect people to parks. They play a key role in ensuring that visitors have a meaningful, satisfying, and safe park experience, help visitors decide how to spend their time in the park, and inform them about the wonders that await their discovery. Park ranger - interpreters are specially trained to engage the public so that each park visitor can find a personal connection with the meanings and values found in the places and stories of that park. They help visitors explore the many dimensions of parks by introducing them to a variety of perspectives. By providing the opportunity for visitors to care about the places they visit, they promote stewardship and the opportunity for those visitors to care for park resources. National parks are among the most remarkable places in America for recreation, learning, and inspiration. The work done by park ranger-interpreters through effective interpretive and educational programs encourages the development of a personal stewardship ethic and broadens public support for preserving and protecting park resources, so that they may be enjoyed by present and future generations.

How you will be evaluated

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

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your responses to the online assessments completed during the application process. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Communications and Media
  • Customer Service
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Multimedia Technologies
  • Oral Communication
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Team Building
  • Teamwork


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 an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to 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, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

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

Vicki Duran
Phone
0000000000
Email
vicki_duran@nps.gov
Address
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park, TX 79834
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at National Park Service, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.