Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results

Land Surveyor

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions are assigned to a Bureau of Land Management Office and serve as land surveyors. The land surveyor is responsible for performing work that involves establishing, investigating, and reestablishing land and property boundaries for descriptions of tracts of land. The land surveyor must use professional knowledge of the concepts, principles, and techniques of surveying including underlying mathematics and physical science, in combination with knowledge of land ownership laws.

Overview

Help
Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
04/29/2024 to 05/15/2024
Salary
$86,962 to - $113,047 per year

Salary reflects the Rest of U.S. pay scale. Final salary will be determined based on negotiated duty location and applicable locality pay scale.

Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
4 vacancies in the following location:
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
NCS/High Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
OR-24-DE/MP-12316205-JL
Control number
786198100

Duties

Help

As the Land Surveyor in this position, you will:

  • Plan/lead/conduct cadastral surveys and resurveys of the Public Land Survey System.
  • Prepare and review survey plats using automated processes.
  • Research/document/collect administrative and historical records, at federal and non-federal sources.
  • Prepare field notes of surveys in final form from the field returns utilizing word processing software.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • May be required to complete background investigation.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents) prior to the closing date of this announcement.
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Status applicants must meet time-in-grade requirements.
  • You may be required to occasionally travel overnight away from home. You must be eligible to obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.
  • Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this Land Surveyor GS-1373-12, you must meet BOTH the Basic and Additional qualification requirements for at least one grade level described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT for the 1373 series:

A. Successfully completed a 4-year bachelor's degree or higher in land surveying; or civil engineering with a surveying option/emphasis. The civil engineering major must have included at least 6 semester hours of surveying, 3 semester hours of land law, and 21 additional semester hours in any combination of the following: surveying, photogrammetry, geodetic surveying, geodesy, route surveying, remote sensing, cartography, survey astronomy, land information systems, computer-aided mapping, aerial photo interpretation, and survey analysis and adjustments. Note: You must submit a complete, legible copy of your transcript to verify college courses.
-OR-
B. Possess a combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in land surveying or civil engineering as described in paragraph A, plus appropriate experience or additional education that furnished a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional land surveying. Note: You must submit a complete, legible copy of your transcripts to verify college courses and your resume must support specialized experience.-
OR-

C. The basic requirements for this series may be fully satisfied by a current registration as a land surveyor in a State, territory, or the District of Columbia obtained by written examination. Such registration must have been obtained under conditions outlined in the National Council of Engineering Examiners (NCEE) Unified Model Law for Registration of Surveyors. Applicants wishing to be considered under this provision must show evidence of registration based on successful completion of the written examinations. Registrations granted prior to adoption of a registration law with qualification requirements equivalent to the NCEE Model Law by the State, territory, or District of Columbia are not acceptable under this option. To be considered equivalent to the NCEE Model law, registration laws must include the four options listed within the NCEE Unified Model Law in the section specifying "General Requirements for Registration" as a Professional Land Surveyor. Note: You must submit proof of your registration based on successful completion of the written examinations.

-AND-

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:


MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience:

Specialized Experience GS-12: Applicants must have one full year of specialized land survey experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the following: 1) serving as a public relations contact concerning major boundary surveys, land ownership issues, and other legal and technical matters related to Federal interest lands that affect recognized Indian Nations and other Federal agencies; 2) planning, preparing, directing, documenting and guiding complex surveys and boundary investigations with other surveyors; 3) designing and collecting accurate geodetic data; 4) preparing field notes of surveys in final form from field returns and preparing plats of surveys in near final form.


Status merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-11 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. (Must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted).


Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made
and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

Education

There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 grade level of this announcement.

Additional information

This position is offering a Relocation/Recruitment Incentive, of 25% of the annual salary. To be eligible for a Relocation Incentive, you must be a current Federal Employee employed with the Federal Government and be willing to work directly from the BLM OR/WA office in which your selection was made (not remote). Note: The selectee's current duty location must be more than 50 miles from the duty location of this position. To be eligible for a Recruitment Incentive, selectee must not be employed by the Federal Government. You will be required to sign a 2-year service agreement to receive this Relocation incentive.

  • 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.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license.

Physical Demands:
The work is performed both in field and office settings. The office work is sedentary. The employee may walk, stand, bend and carry light items. The field work is very physically demanding. Field crews work 10 hour days and are required to walk and climb while carrying heavy objects such as survey instruments, tripods, chain saws, digging equipment etc. The incumbent is required to operate dangerous cutting tools and perform strenuous activities such as digging holes and carrying rocks. These field situations require continuous attention to ensure personal safety as well as the safety of the crew.

Working Conditions:
Office work is performed in well lighted, air conditioned or heated rooms. Field work is usually in areas where the terrain varies from nearly level land to mountainous terrain and extreme temperature variables. These locations are often remote with limited vehicular access and wilderness settings. The incumbent must adhere to all safety rules and regulations as prescribed in manuals/supplements or by the designated Safety Officer and take all precautionary steps to ensure the safety and well being of his or her survey crew.


Telework: The Bureau of Land Management has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact San Antonio Services Branch at SASBMailbox@opm.gov or 816-541-8101.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 successful completion of additional assessments, including a subject matter resume review and/or a panel interview. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Database Administration
  • Surveying
  • Technical Competence
  • Writing


Candidates not eligible to apply under merit promotion will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:
  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
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 Non-Competitive 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.

Performance Appraisals for Competitive and Non-Competitive Merit Promotion Applicants: In the evaluation process, due weight will be given to job related experience, education, training, incentive awards and performance appraisals. Applicants must submit a performance appraisal with a performance rating of at least the equivalent of fully successful to be eligible for promotion or placement. Applicants may provide a copy of a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months. If the applicant is unable to provide a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months, the applicant may provide a written explanation as to why.

Recruitment incentive awards: Applicants that have received recruitment incentive awards during the last two years, must list them on their resume.

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.