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GIS Specialist

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a GIS Specialist. Make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.

Duty Location: Billings, Montana

Living conditions: https://www.usbr.gov/gp/employment/living_conditions.pdf

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/01/2024 to 05/13/2024
Salary
$86,962 to - $113,047 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
3 vacancies in the following location:
Billings, MT
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
50% 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
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
BOR-MB-24-DE-12385483-JB
Control number
789273800

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Duties

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  • Serves as a regional Geographic information system (GIS) specialist providing administrative and technical guidance in conducting strategic planning, implementation of geospatial policy, geospatial data management, remote sensing capabilities, business processes, and alignment to Federal requirements.
  • Works with water user organizations, Reclamation offices, and other federal agencies to lead and/or participate on GIS interdisciplinary teams for the purpose of providing technical input on data management, application development, cartography, and operation of remote sensing platforms.
  • Utilizes current GIS/Remote Sensing technology to create and review map products and applications for a wide variety of customers.
  • Provides input on geospatial applications, hardware, software, and databases, and provides administrative guidance on laws, policies, and regulations to Reclamation offices.
  • Responsible for the acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of a wide range of spatial and remotely sensed information required to support the management of public lands, engineering projects, and environmental assessments.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
You must be suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation.
You must submit a resume and supporting documentation (see Required Documents).
You must submit eligibility documents for veterans consideration (see Required Documents).
You must meet any minimum education and/or experience requirements (see Qualifications).
You must submit transcript(s) to verify education requirements (see Qualifications/Education).
You must maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times as the position requires operation of government vehicles on government and public roads. Failure to maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times will result in removal from the position.

Qualifications

To be eligible for consideration, you must first meet at least one of the Basic Education Requirements for this position:

Geography Series, 0150 - You must have a degree in geography; or related physical or social science such as geology, meteorology, economics, statistics, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, cartography, computer science, urban studies, or planning that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields. You could otherwise qualify with a combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major in geography, or a related field that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Cartography Series, 1370 - You must have a degree in cartography or a major that included or was supplemented by at least 30 semester hours in cartography and/or directly related science, and related mathematics. Such course work includes, but is not limited to, cartography, astronomy, geodesy, photogrammetry, physical and geological oceanography, computer science, land surveying, geophysics, physical geography, and remote sensing. The 30 semester hours must have included at least 6, but no more than 15, semester hours of college level, non-business mathematics or statistics (i.e., college level algebra, trigonometry, calculus, or scientific mathematics or statistics requiring equivalent college-level courses as prerequisites). You could otherwise qualify with a combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major in cartography, or a major that included or was supplemented by at least 30 semester hours in cartography, and/or directly related science, and related mathematics, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series, 0401 - You must have a degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You can also meet this requirement with a combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major as shown above plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, the HR Office must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - this information must be clearly supported in the resume.

To qualify at the GS-12, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-11 level in federal service having demonstrated experience planning and implementing GIS projects across a broad geographical area; interacting with a variety of professionals and organizations; providing guidance on secure management of data; and providing technical expertise on geospatial applications.

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 Eligibility and Qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors if applicable, by 05/13/2024.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

This position has a mandatory education requirement. You must submit a copy of college transcript(s) (unofficial copy is acceptable) to support claimed education. Transcripts must include the name of the college or university and date the degree was conferred. Non-submission will result in being rated not-qualified for the position.

You will be required to provide official college transcripts to verify educational qualifications, if selected. An official transcript must be sent directly from the University's Registrar's office and must be provided from the institution awarding the degree. Academic transcripts certified by notary publics are NOT official. Official transcripts must be submitted prior to reporting to work as a condition of employment. Failure to submit official transcripts may be grounds for dismissal or rescission of the job offer.

Accreditation: Only education from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education is acceptable to meet education requirements or to substitute for experience, if applicable. For additional info, refer to the Office of Personnel Management and U.S. Department of Education.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For additional info, refer to the U.S. Network for Education Information.

Additional information

Overtime hours may be required.

You may be required to serve an initial probationary period. Current, permanent Federal employees who are selected from this announcement may be required to serve a probationary period.

This is an interdisciplinary position. Position may be filled by: GS-1370-Cartographer, GS-0150-Geographer, GS-0401-Natural Resource Specialist.

Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and you may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval.

If otherwise 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.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) expenses are authorized with the exception of the Guaranteed Home Sale Provision or first-post-of-duty relocation expenses are authorized, as applicable. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law December 2017, suspends the moving expense deduction and the exclusion from income of qualified employer reimbursements of moving expenses that was allowed under previous tax laws. Employer reimbursements for moving costs are now generally taxed at the same rate as ordinary income.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may request consideration for a Superior Qualifications Appointment. For information, visit: OPM Fact Sheet.

Related non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630). For information, visit: Creditable Service for Annual Leave

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including applicant rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/

This position is designated as a MODERATE RISK Public Trust position. It requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated Public Trust Suitability Background Investigation (T2S or T2RS or equivalent) that is current (within the last 5 years). This is a condition of employment.

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must certify registration with the Selective Service System or that the applicant is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Go to: https://www.sss.gov

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Category rating and selection procedures will be used to evaluate applications from this announcement. If an applicant meets the basic qualification requirements, his/her on-line responses to the vacancy assessment questionnaire will be used to determine the quality and extent of his/her experience, education, training, etc., for placement in one of the following categories: 1) Best Qualified and 2) Qualified. Qualified candidates will be assigned a numerical score on a scale of 70-100. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher). The assessment questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide to the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Customer Service
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Teamwork
  • Technical Competence
  • Technical Credibility
  • Technology Application
  • Technology Management

Resumes for minimally qualified applicants will be reviewed by a panel of Subject Matter Experts and scored based on the competencies or job elements listed above. Best qualified applicants will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for consideration.

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 assessment(s), including a Subject Matter Expert panel resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

The application questionnaire can be previewed here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12385483

Your answers will be verified against information provided in your resume. Your resume must clearly support the responses to all the questions by addressing experience, education, and/or training relevant to this position. You must make a fair and accurate assessment of your qualifications. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than what is apparent in the description of your experience, competencies, skills, and/or education/training (or that your resume/application is incomplete), you could be rated ineligible or your score could be lowered.

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