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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Multiple positions being filled throughout the Northern Region, Region 1.

Incumbent participates as a member of a Forest Heritage program area. Responsible for carrying out heritage related activity in support of meeting targets and priority project needs as determined by the Forest Leadership Team.

For contact information, please see the Education section.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/31/2023 to 09/11/2023
This job will close when we have received 150 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$57,118 to - $74,250 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Locations
11 vacancies in the following locations:
Ashland, MT
Billings, MT
Bozeman, MT
Butte, MT
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training, meetings, field work, and/or site visits.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
23-R1GV-12103714-DP-DC
Control number
746415200

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Duties

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  • Provides advice on identification and management of Heritage and Cultural Resources Program, including development of immediate objectives, integration with resource activities, and establishment or priorities.
  • Assists in ensuring integration with heritage and cultural resource activities and establishment of priorities.
  • Coordinates the budget and project plan of work for the unit's archeological and cultural activities within the National Forest unit.
  • Designs inventory strategies as part of the land use planning process based on Forest-wide priorities and needs.
  • Work includes preparation of maps, inventories, reports, and records related to the discovery, protection, inventory, salvage, and interpretation of heritage and cultural resource areas.
  • Reviews reports as part of project planning to evaluate the quality of the inventory, the completeness of the report, and the significance of heritage or cultural sites found.
  • Determines eligibility of historical properties for the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Assists in developing and carrying out projects related to stewardship enhancement and public interpretation of heritage and cultural resources, such as partnership agreements and site steward programs.
  • Ensures program data for documentation submission including contracts, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility criteria, legal documents to fulfill programmatic requirements, and internal reports.
  • Performs supervisory duties 20% or less of the time.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.
  • New supervisor training must be completed within your first year.

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.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Basic Requirements for Archeologist GS-0193:
A. 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

B. 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

C. 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.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-09: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following:
  • Assisted in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development;
  • Participated in archeological survey and site evaluation work and preparation of technical reports;
  • Interpreted cultural resources to public contacts in one-on-one conversations;
  • Received formal and on-the-job instructions and training on the practical application of archeological principles, theories, methods, practices, and techniques; and/or
  • Developed and coordinated networks and contacts beneficial to the successful performance of archeological work assignments, such as interacting technically with colleagues and supervisors, and demonstrating the ability to work cooperatively with other persons.
OR
Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related;

OR
An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must be directly related to the position being filled.

Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary, or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

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

See above for education that may be qualifying.

Contact Information:
-Dakota Prairie Grasslands/Medora RD (2 positions)
,Duty location: Dickinson, ND. Supervisor: Aidan McCarty, aidan.mccarty@usda.gov

-Beaverhead Deerlodge NF/Supervisor's Office, Duty Location: Dillon, MT. Supervisor: Ayme Swartz, ayme.swartz@usda.gov

-Dakota Prairie Grasslands/Grand River RD, Duty Location: Lemmon, SD. Supervisor: Aidan McCarty, aidan.mccarty@usda.gov

-Dakota Prairie Grasslands/McKenzie RD, Duty Location: Watford City, ND. Supervisor: Aidan McCarty, aidan.mccarty@usda.gov

-Kootenai National Forest, Duty Location: Eureka, MT. Supervisor: Seth Carbonari, seth.carbonari@usda.gov

-Kootenai National Forest, Duty Location: Libby, MT. Supervisor: Nathan Gassman, nathan.gassman@usda.gov

-Custer Gallatin NF/Supervisor's Office (2): Billings, MT; Bozeman, MT; or Ashland, MT. Supervisor: Lauren Oswald, lauren.oswald@usda.gov

-Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF/Supervisor's Office: Butte, MT. Supervisor: Ayme Swartz, ayme.swartz@usda.gov

-Custer Gallatin NF/Supervisor's Office: Billings, MT; Bozeman, MT; Ashland, MT. Supervisor: Lauren Oswald, lauren.oswald@usda.gov

Additional information

LOCATION NEGOTIABLE OPTION: This announcement may be used to fill future positions within Region 1. By selecting the option "Location Negotiable" your application package will be reviewed for eligibility and possible submission on a certificate for consideration if additional positions need to be filled at a later date. Please select all duty locations for which you wish to considered.

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Government Housing may be available.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is limited to the first 150 applications received and will close at 11:59 pm ET on the closing date identified above or the day we receive the 150th application, whichever occurs first.

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 in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12103714

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