This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/747391800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is looking for employees to work as career seasonal Smokejumpers (Forestry Technicians) in Boise, Idaho or Fairbanks, Alaska.
For information on Boise Smokejumpers, visit their website.For information on Fairbanks Smokejumpers, visit their website.
A supplemental pay increase of $20,000 or 50% of base pay per year is authorized under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through 9/30/2023.
**PLEASE SEE ALASKA PAY DIFFERENTIAL in "Additional Information" Section.
09/05/2023 to 10/24/2023
$37,696 - $49,009 per year
A supplemental pay increase of $20,000 or 50% of base pay per year, is authorized under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through 9/30/2023.
GS 5
Many vacancies in the following locations:
No
No
76% or greater - Extensive travel will be required during peak fire activity.
No
Multiple Appointment Types - This is a permanent career seasonal position.
Full-time
Competitive
5
No
Yes
FADHA-23-12104574-MH
747391800
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
All U.S. Citizens - No previous federal service is required. This position is being advertised under an OPM government-wide Direct Hire authority. CTAP and ICTAP candidates in the local commuting area.
Selective Placement Factors:This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified:
Specialized Experience:
In order to be rated as minimally qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the minimum qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience. Failure to provide required information on resume could result in ineligibility for consideration.
To qualify for the GS-05 grade level, 1 year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 is required. Examples of work experience include, but are not limited to: wildland fire suppression as a member of a handcrew, a helitack crew, or an engine crew;
OR -Successful completion of a 4 year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with either a major study in forestry, range management, or agriculture, or a subject matter field directly related to the position, or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following courses: forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine biology and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. No more than 6 semester hours of mathematics is creditable. The level of the course work must have been equivalent to at least the junior- and senior-year levels of a baccalaureate program;
OR-A combination of education and experience that is directly related to the work of this 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. You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
Medical Requirements
Please see the Department of Interior Medical Standards Program website for the Federal Interagency Wildland Firefighter Medical Standards for your position: http://www.nifc.gov/medical_standards/index.html
Physical Requirements
Employment in this position is conditional upon your successful completion of the following BLM smokejumper PHYSICAL TEST: When you report for duty, you will be given a physical condition test. The test is given in one time period with a 5-minute break between exercises. The test consists of performing the following exercises:
Work Capacity Test at the Arduous Level: All arduous wildland firefighters must backpack a 45 pound load for three miles in 45 minutes or less.
Physical Demands: The incumbent must be able to work under extreme physical exertion regularly working 16 hour shifts or longer on the fireline. Work on the fireline requires considerable strenuous physical exertion.
Work Environment: The majority of work is performed outdoors in a wide variety of weather and terrain conditions or in a crowded airplane.
FIREFIGHTER SPECIAL RETIREMENT:
This is a primary fire position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). The position is subject to maximum entry age (MEA) requirements.
The MEA for this position shall not exceed age 37; unless you have sufficient prior Federal civilian firefighter or you are a preference eligible veteran. If you are a preference eligible veteran, you may be eligible for this position on or after your 37th birthday. You must supply a copy of your Defense Department Form 214 (DD-214) along with Standard Form 15 (if applicable) and any associated documentation in accordance with the instructions in this vacancy announcement. Failure to provide this documentation with your application will result in loss of eligibility to receive a waiver of the maximum entry age requirement.
If over the MEA and you are not a Veteran, proof of prior covered service must be submitted prior to employment. Acceptable proof consists of SF-50s showing beginning and ending dates of covered/creditable appointments and copies of approved letters based on individual claims.
Proof of Education:
All applicants who are using education or a combination of education and experience to qualify must submit copies of official or unofficial transcripts which include grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, institution name, and student name. If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.
Foreign Education:
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
Alaska Pay Differential:
**In addition to the base salary, including 31.32% locality pay, you will receive a 2.01% cost of living allowance for Fairbanks, AK. This allowance is subject to annual review, adjustment, and gradual decrease.
Pay scale for Alaska, $42,491 to $55,244
Verify Employment Eligibility (E-Verify):
DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program(ICTAP):
These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well qualified for the position with a score of 90 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: CTAP or ICTAP
CTAP and ICTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.
Permanent Change in Station (PCS):
Travel and relocation expenses will not be paid by the Department of the Interior. Any travel, transportation and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the responsibility of the selected employee.
Telework:
This position is not eligible for Telework.
Incentives:
Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive or Student Loan Repayment.
This is a career seasonal position. You will be in pay status for at least 6 months, but less than 12 months per calendar year. When work and/or funds are unavailable, you will be placed into non-pay status. Pay status may be less than 6 months during initial appointment.
THIS IS A DRUG TESTING DESIGNATED POSITION in accordance with Executive Order 12564, and under the Department's Drug Free Workplace Program. Applicant(s) tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use and to pass the test prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
We expect to fill many position(s) at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once the job opportunity announcement closes, your resume and all supporting documents will be reviewed by HR to determine your eligibility for Federal employment and your qualifications for this position specifically.
This is a Public Notice for positions being filled under the Direct Hiring Authority (DHA) for Wildland Fire. Under this recruitment procedure applications will be accepted for each location identified in this Public Notice. To learn more about Direct-Hire Authority, go to: OPM.GOV Hiring Information - DHA.
Because this vacancy will be filled through OPM's Direct Hire Authority, Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this announcement. Applications received as a result of job fairs, recruitment events, and emergency hiring mechanisms in support of this hiring initiative will also be accepted during the duration of the announcement. All qualified candidates will be referred for consideration; the hiring office may conduct interviews at their discretion.
Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics). You do not have to respond to the competencies separately, but your resume should contain sufficient information to demonstrate possession of the following competencies:
Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s).
You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.
In addition to the online application (i.e. resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms:
Resume:
At a minimum, your resume MUST contain job title (include job series and grade, if Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year MM/YYYY), hours worked per week, and salary for each position held. USAJOBS has a template to ensure a complete resume. Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility. For more information, visit OPM Resume Writing Tips and/or visit the USAJOBs Help Center for more information on What should I include in my federal resume?
Transcripts:
If using education to qualify, submit a copy of ALL your college transcripts or a list of ALL college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. Upon selection, official transcripts must be received prior to appointment. If your degree is from a Foreign Institution, See Foreign Education.
Incident Qualification and Certification System (IQCS) Master Record: IQCS or other equivalent documentation which verifies you meet the required NWCG qualifications for this position. Failure to provide this documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in you being rated as not qualified.
Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) eligibles:
Submit documentation verifying your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location.
USAJOBs documents:
Please note that documents selected for transfer from your USAJOBS profile are NOT automatically added do your application. You need to transfer your document(s) in the "Documents" step during the application process. Hard copy paper supplemental documents, submitted without prior Human Resources approval, will be considered as an incomplete application. Required documentation must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on 10/24/2023.
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.
THIS IS AN ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS THROUGH USAJOBS. Your application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by 10/24/2023.
If you need assistance in applying on-line, please contact the NIFC-FA Branch of Human Resource office at blm_fa_nifc_vacancies@blm.gov or (208) 387-5523. If applying on-line poses a hardship for you (i.e., you do not have access to the Internet) you must contact us prior to the closing date of the announcement for an alternative method of applying. PLEASE NOTE: If you have access to a public library, State Job Service Office, etc., you should use these resources to apply online.
YOU MUST HAVE OR CREATE A PROFILE IN USAJOBS. Your profile must contain a current resume for submission. See Required Documents section for what to include in your resume.
To view the assessment questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12104574.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
FOLLOW UP. Check your application status before the announcement closes. It is your responsibility to ensure that a complete application (including a resume, on-line questionnaire, and applicable supplemental documentation) is received by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on 10/24/2023 of the vacancy announcement.**NOTE: Technical problems may take at least 1 business day to resolve; therefore, you are highly encouraged to complete the application process prior to the closing date.
Once you submit all the required documents and the online application (i.e. online questionnaire, resume, and any supporting documentation, etc.) in USAJOBs, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After the evaluation process is completed by the Branch of Human Resources, you will be notified via USAJOBs of a status change (i.e. referred, not eligible, not qualified, referred to the hiring official, etc.). Note, you must login to your USAJOBs profile to view details of the status change.
If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted by the hiring official.
You will be notified if this job is filled or canceled. Timelines for this process vary widely.
Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.
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/747391800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.