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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service

Summary

This is an open and continuous announcement. See Additional Information section for more information. Applications will expire every 90 days. To remain active for consideration, applicants must resubmit their application. Positions may be filled at one or more of the duty locations included in this announcement.

Final determination of the duty location will be made at the time of the job offer.

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Overview

  • Accepting applications

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Duties

  • Duties are listed at the full performance level.
  • Performs archeological inventories to identify and assess the resources within an area that may be impacted by proposed projects.
  • Leads survey crews in the inventory of areas. Provides heritage and cultural resource management orientation to personnel on statutes, regulations and purpose of work to be performed.
  • Develops contract specifications for heritage and cultural resource work. Installs or ensures standard protection measures are established prior to ground-disturbing project activities.
  • Ensures program data for documentation submission including contracts, National Register of Historic Places (HRHP) eligibility criteria and legal documents fulfill requirements.
  • Prepares maps of heritage and cultural resource areas. Prepares recommendations to be incorporated in environmental analyses and/or specialist reports.
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Requirements

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.

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:

A. Education

1. 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 coursework 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.

OR

2. 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.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.

For the GS-07 grade level: Applicants must have one year (18 semester hours) of graduate-level education; OR superior academic achievement; OR one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level; OR a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience that together meets this requirement.

Specialized experience for the GS-07 grade level is defined as two or more of the following: conducting routine field reconnaissance searches; and/or identifying and marking archeological sites, preparing site location maps, recording findings, photographing artifact findings, and preparing sites sketches as necessary; and/or assisting in searching for and examining historical records and findings of other archeological experts.

For the GS-09 grade level: Applicants must have two years (36 semester hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level; OR a combination of graduate level education (in excess of 18 semester hours) and specialized experience that together meets this requirement.

Specialized experience for the GS-09 grade level is defined as three or more of the following: assisting in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development; and/or participating in archeological survey and site evaluation work and preparation of technical reports; and/or receiving formal and on-the-job instructions and training on the practical application of archeological principles, theories, methods, practices, and techniques; and/or developing and coordinating 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.

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 for the specific grade level.

Additional information

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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/12179188

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Required Documents

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.

If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.

If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FEDSHIREVETS.

Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

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How to Apply

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Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center

Address

USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US
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Next steps

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