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Park Guide

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Mesa Verde National Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions are located in Mesa Verde National Park, in the Interpretation/Visitor Services staff. Two permanent FT positions to be filled and one career seasonal FT position may be filled.

Provides guide services to visitors. The work involves giving talks, interpreting natural and historic features, answering questions, guiding tours and providing miscellaneous services to visitors.

For information about the positions, contact Eric Sainio at 970-529-4633 or eric_sainio@nps.gov

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/13/2024 to 06/24/2024
This job will close when we have received 60 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$39,576 to - $51,446 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5
Location
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
3 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position to attend meetings and/or training or travel to project sites.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Multiple work schedules advertised - Permanent and Career Seasonal (subject to periods of non-pay)
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
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
IM-1493-MEVE-24-12441462-MP
Control number
795526200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current Department of the Interior Career or Career-Conditional Employees in the competitive service; Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibles; CTAP eligibles in the local commuting area.

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Duties

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  • Answering questions on a variety of subjects.
  • Guiding small groups and providing services to visitors.
  • Present limited and repetitive pre-established talks including introductions to films, map talks, and static exhibit interpretation.
  • Orient hikers to conditions and equipment needs.
  • Performs duties including programs that require application of broad subject-matter knowledge of the park. Guide large groups (up to 50 people) on longer walks or programs. Provide a wide range of services to park visitors. Provide a wide range of services to park visitors.
Physical Demands:
The work requires standing for long periods of time, walking for long distances, climbing and descending steep inclines, bending and lifting moderately heavy items. Mental stress and physical fatigue occur due to high volume of personal contacts, occasional emergency responses and repetitive nature of interpretive programs.

Work Environment:
Work is performed both indoors and outdoors resulting in exposure to a variety of weather conditions.

Area/Park Information:
Located in Southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde National Parkwas established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archaeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people. For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 26 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past while also highlighting contemporary connections. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth. Nearby Yucca House National Monument is managed under Mesa Verde. It is an undeveloped NPS unit and protects a large unexcavated valley pueblo.

On average Mesa Verde hosts 500,000+ visitors per year. Area residents and visitors enjoy world-class outdoor recreational opportunities including skiing, mountain biking, hiking, rafting, camping, hunting, and fishing in the region. Nearby public lands include the San Juan National Forest, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and other areas in the Tres Rios District of the Bureau of Land Management. The local towns of Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, and Durango provide a range of housing, dining, and shopping opportunities, and both Durango and Cortez have regional airports. Mesa Verde and the nearby communities are great places to work and live.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • If you are a new employee in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home on an occasional basis. You may be required to obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-06/24/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at leave one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized Experience is experience that involved oral presentation of historical, scientific, or program information to groups; or developing and/or revising technical, historical, or scientific information for oral presentation to groups. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to, Park Guide or tour leader; naturalist; environmental educator or teacher; or other similar work. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least four years of education above high school (120 semester hour or 180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation, such as American history, science, public speaking, parks and recreation, education, or communications. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: Successful completion of an equivalent combination of education and experience. NOTE: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described in A above (50% of the experience requirement), and 3 years of college study from an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education) which included at least 12 semester hours of related coursework as specified in B above (50% of the related coursework required). You must include transcripts.

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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work approximately 10 1/2 months in pay status, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year (approximately mid January to the end of February).

Open to the first 60 applicants or until 06/24/2024 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Government housing may be available.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, You must submit ALL SF-50s and performance information for each period of temporary/term employment that qualifies for LMWFA. Performance documentation can be obtained by contacting the supervisors for the positions you served in during your 24 months. If they did not complete performance appraisals ask them to provide a statement of performance for each period of service. The statement must specify the dates for each employment period and your level of performance consistent with your SF_50s.

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

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 Noncompetitive 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.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Customer Service
  • Education and Training
  • Flexibility
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Oral Communication
  • Public Service Motivation


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 Job Knowledge Test. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

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