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Archeologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

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.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
10/30/2023 to 07/01/2024
Salary
$57,118 to - $69,107 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Locations
MANY vacancies in the following locations:
Anchorage, AK
Cordova, AK
Craig, AK
Girdwood, AK
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—A recruitment or relocation incentive, or reimbursement of relocation expenses may be authorized at the discretion of management in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
24-CHI-OCR-12177257-DP
Control number
757647500

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Duties

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  • Duties are listed at the full performance level.
  • Plans and executes surveys for the location and verification of archeological and historical sites. Evaluates sites and identifies which are appropriate for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Administers archeological examinations of roads, reservoirs, recreation, and other ground disturbing projects where archeological materials may be subject to destruction or damage for protection and mitigation of cultural sites.
  • Reviews reports to evaluate the quality of inventory, the completeness of the report, and the significance of heritage or cultural sites found.
  • Directs the preparation of maps, inventories, reports, and records related to all aspects of the heritage and cultural resource program.
  • Interprets heritage and cultural resources to the public and professional contacts through presentations at visitor facilities and professional conferences.
  • Provides consultation and advice to unit personnel for problems in which cultural resources are involved.

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.

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-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.

For the GS-11 grade level: Applicants must have three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree (with coursework directly related to position being filled); OR one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level; OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

Specialized experience for the GS-11 grade level is defined as three or more of the following: performing standard tasks or portions of larger projects for an archeological program, such as conducting performance studies and examining historical research documents pertaining to project development; and/or assisting professional archeologists in developing/enhancing archeological program components, such as scientific reporting, records and database management, and cultural resource condition monitoring; and/or evaluating problems associated with archeological site protection; and/or implementing corrective measures within the framework of archeological program and legal requirements.

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

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.

Additional duty stations may be added to this vacancy announcement. It is the responsibility of the applicant to periodically review this vacancy announcement for additional duty locations that may be added throughout the life of this announcement. Applicants must update their application to include all locations of interest. Applicants will not be considered for duty locations not included in your application.

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.

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

Positions may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. Positions 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 open and continuous announcement provides the Forest Service with a readily available source of applicants when vacancies occur. Eligibility and qualifications will be verified when there is a vacancy for the location and grade for which you applied. Information on specific locations where jobs are being filled and the dates when applications are due for these locations can be found at https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com/Outreach.

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. Final salary will be determined at the time of selection dependent on the duty location For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page.

Positions filled will be full-time; or full-time seasonal with either 13 pay periods of guaranteed pay status and 13 pay periods of non-pay time or 18 pay periods of guaranteed pay status and 8 pay periods of non-pay time.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

Forest Service daycare facilities may be available.

Government Housing may be available.

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/12177257

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