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Hydrologist

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 in Hydrology. You can make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.

Duty Location: Lower Colorado Basin Region, Boulder Canyon Operations Office, River Operations Group AND Operations Support Group AND LC River MSCP Group located in Boulder City, NV.

Full time telework and remote work not available; housing not provided.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/08/2024 to 07/19/2024
Salary
$74,050 to - $115,379 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
3 vacancies in the following location:
Boulder City, NV
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
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
BOR-LCB-24-DE-12364056-NW
Control number
798778600

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Duties

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3 positions to be filled - each has a different emphasis for duties from the overall position description's major duties.

Operations Support Group - Data Steward duties

  • Collects, interprets, analyzes and evaluates hydrologic data.
  • Develops, modifies, and utilizes relational databases and related applications to maintain hydrologic data for conducting operational support and planning analyses.

River Operations Group - Operations Project Management duties

  • Plans, performs, coordinates, and directs comprehensive hydrologic studies of hydrologic systems in accordance with and applicable authorizations, policy, and regulatory requirements.
  • Uses comprehensive process or computer models to conduct and simulate hydrologic analysis and inform operations.
  • Works on complex water issues whose solutions require a proven understanding of hydrology and or more related disciplines such as hydraulics, geology, geochemistry, and the complexities of ground or surface water flow.

MSCP Group - Hydrologic Project Manager duties

  • Collects, interprets, analyzes and evaluates hydrologic data.
  • Works on complex water issues whose solutions require a proven understanding of hydrology and or more related disciplines such as hydraulics, geology, geochemistry, and the complexities of ground or surface water flow.
  • Contributes to investigative project proposals and develops work plans and protocols which include consideration of previous experimental and theoretical analyses, evaluation of all available data from various sources, and the development and adaptation of procedures and methods of investigation.

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).

Who May Apply:

  • Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)
  • Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement: To be eligible for consideration, you must first meet the Basic Education Requirement for the Hydrologist position is listed below:
QUALIFICATIONS FOR GS-1315, HYDROLOGIST:
1. Degree:
physical or natural science, or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in any combination of courses in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soils, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources. The coursework must have included at least 6 semester hours in calculus (including both differential and integral calculus), and at least 6 semester hours in physics. Calculus and physics, as described above, are requirements for all grade levels.
-OR-
2. Combination of education and experience:
course work as shown in 1 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems.

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

*Evaluation of Experience: Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems.

To qualify at the GS-11 level: In addition to meeting the education requirement above, applicants resumes must reflect one year of full time professional work* (equivalent to the GS-09 level) performing all of the following:

  • Using state-of-the-art hydrologic data to prepare and issue hydrologic forecasts for water hazards such as high water or flood situations; and
  • Analyzing hydrologic data.

-OR-

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in hydrology or a closely related field or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

-OR-

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Note: Only graduate education in excess of two years is creditable.

To qualify at the GS-12 level: In addition to meeting the education requirement above, applicants resumes must reflect one year of full time professional work* (equivalent to the GS-11 level) performing all of the following:

  • Collecting and analyzing networks of basic water resource data; and
  • Developing hydrologic modeling and analysis procedures.
*Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems.

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 07/19/2024.

Education

This position has a mandatory education requirement. You must submit a copy of college transcript(s) (unofficial copy is acceptable) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. 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

Telework: Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and you may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval. Current Reclamation policy requires employees to report to the official duty station a minimum of 40 hours every payperiod (2 weeks). Full time telework or remote work is not available for this position.
E-Verify: 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/
Background Investigation: 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.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentive of up to $5k may be authorized.
Selective Service Registration: 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
Promotion Potential: If you are selected at a lower grade than the full performance level, promotion(s) may be made at a later date without further competition. However, identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote you at some future date. Such promotion(s) will depend upon managerial discretion, the needs of the organization, and the demonstrated performance of higher level duties. Full performance level is GS-12.
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, 2) Well Qualified, and 3) 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, 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:

  • Hydrology
  • Technical Competence

The application questionnaire can be previewed here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12464056

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.

For evaluating the quality of candidates for referral to the selecting official, a three-phased process will be used.

Phase 1: Applicant resumes will be reviewed by Human Resources to ensure they meet the basic education and qualifications. If applicants meet basic qualifications and any education requirements, they will continue on to the second phase.

Phase 2: Candidates who pass the first phase will have their resume reviewed and rated by a subject matter expert against the competencies listed above.

Phase 3: Candidates will be given a final score which combines the scores from the first and second phases. Those candidates who score as best qualified will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies with the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s). Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. You may choose to opt in of having your information shared with other agencies when applying for this position. If an agency requests a copy of a certificate you are on, you will be notified.

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