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

Park Manager (Superintendent)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Western Arctic National Parklands (WEAR)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Kotzebue, Alaska, serving Western Arctic National Parklands (WEAR) including Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve, and Cape Krusenstern National Monument.

This announcement is being advertised concurrently under number AK-1537-WEAR-24-12455332-DE which is open to all qualified persons. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/12/2024 to 08/12/2024
Salary
$138,035 - $179,448 per year

An additional 3.21% cost of living allowance (COLA) will be added to the salary above. Pay is subject to annual review and adjustment.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Kotzebue, AK
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel up to 5 nights per month 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
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
AK-1537-WEAR-24-12455331-ST
Control number
799686900

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

Who May Apply: Current competitive service career/career-conditional federal government employees; competitive Reinstatement; Land Management Workforce Flexibility; Veterans (VEOA, 30% or more disabled veterans, VOW Act); Individuals with disabilities; Special Hiring Authorities (such as National Service, Public Land Corp, Military Spouse); Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP); Reemployment Priority List (RPL); and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP).

Videos

Duties

Help

* * The closing date of this announcement has been extended from 8-5-2024 to 8-12-2024. * *

This position serves as the Park Manager (Superintendent) of Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve, and Cape Krusenstern National Monument. These units, established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), contain nationally significant natural, cultural, physical, scenic, wilderness, and recreational values. Collectively, these units encompass over 8.5 million acres, and are vitally important as a large, contiguous tract of protected natural areas in the most northern reaches of the Alaskan Arctic. As Superintendent, the incumbent will:

  • Oversee all aspects of operations for these park units and maintain complex relationships with other Federal, State, local, and Native agencies and organizations, stakeholders, and the public.
  • Manage diverse and complex areas including Visitor and Resource Protection programs, Cultural and Natural Resources, Visitor Services (including Concessions), Interpretation and Education, Aviation, Administration, Maintenance, and Subsistence programs.
  • Serve as the principal National Park Service spokesperson on all matters related to these units.
  • Establish and maintain close working relationships with government and private organizations to assure cooperation on area management; accomplish of goals and objectives; and seek opportunities to partner or collaborate with these and other organizations.
  • Formulate and establish park operating policies and procedures in concert with applicable law, regulations, service policies and delegations of authority.
  • Develop programs and budgets for the Operation of the National Park Service (ONPS) base funds and other funding sources as available and applicable.
  • Establish priorities, provides final approval on all park project priorities, makes substantive fiscal decisions, and monitors and leverages expenditures to administer a complex annual operating budget.
  • Directly and indirectly supervises a diverse staff in professional, administrative, technical, and Federal Wage System occupations.
Duty location for the incumbent is Kotzebue, Alaska.

Government housing may be available.

Additional information about Kotzebue: City of Kotzebue, Travel Alaska (Kotzebue), and Travel Alaska (Local Guide).

Information for current National Park Service competitive service career or career-conditional federal government employees: There is a temporary promotion/detail opportunity available under job announcement AK-1537-WEAR-24-12455333IMP. If you would like to be considered for a temporary promotion or detail opportunity in addition to the permanent position opportunity, you must also apply to that announcement.

Requirements

Help

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.
  • 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); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments and must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
  • You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
  • 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. Important: Please, do not provide a copy of your driver's license at this time. If selected for a position, you may be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record.
  • Motorboat operation required. Selectee will receive appropriate training in motorboat operations and will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing.
  • 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 or supervisor 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 up to 5nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • The position to which you will be appointed is subject to a financial disclosure reporting requirement and you will be required to complete a new entrant Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of your appointment.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/12/2024-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-14 grade level, you must possess 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-13 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: demonstrated in-depth knowledge of park or program management principles, practices, techniques, laws, and regulations characterized by experience serving as a recognized authority for one or more highly complex programs; providing leadership and direction for the strategic planning, management, and operation of national parks or public lands functions and activities; managing park or public lands and making key operational decisions regarding budget, personnel, and program execution; serving as a management or program specialist involving the development and implementation of policy related to management of park areas or similar operations; or other similar work. Note: You must include hours per week worked.

When describing the nature of your duties (e.g., your paid or unpaid work or volunteer experience), please be extremely clear, thorough, and specific. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience. Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire. For additional information on what to include in your resume, click here. For information on what you should leave out of your resume, click here. The following five-minute video may also be helpful for creating and updating your federal resume: click here.

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

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

Additional information

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.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

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

Physical Demands: The majority of the work is sedentary, but flying, boating, and travel by snow machine and hiking may be required.

Work Environment: Duties will involve both an office and outdoor environment. When outdoors, incumbent may be faced with Arctic cold, wind, snow and rain. Incumbent is required to travel in small aircraft at a variety of altitudes over land and water, or ride on commercial airlines, snow machines or automobiles to perform work in the field. Will be required to navigate streams, rivers, or lakes by boat. Will walk over or climb over a variety of terrains from level to steep. Must wear normal safety equipment required by various activities and follow safety precautions required by terrain, weather, etc. Survival precautions must be taken.

Supervision Exercised: Incumbent oversees administration of the park's budget (about $2.8 million) and directly supervises six to eight direct reports at the GS-12 and GS-11 levels and manages a staff of approximately 27 comprised of permanent full time, seasonal full time, seasonal and shared employees engaged in park program and facility maintenance activities.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will be paid if the person selected for the position is from outside the local commuting area and is otherwise eligible for reimbursement of relocation expenses under the Federal Travel Regulations.

Employer paid and reimbursed relocation expenses are considered taxable income. The NPS does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. Employees should consult professional tax, legal and accounting advisors regarding concerns about the financial implications of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS).

Alaska currently does not have a state income tax.

In the event of an accident while traveling in a government aircraft, the payable benefits of a private life insurance policy may be affected.

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:

  • Administration and Management
  • Communication
  • Human Capital Management
  • Leadership
  • Partnering
  • Technical Competence


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 expert (SME) panel resume review. 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.

National Park Service

The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

Agency contact information

Carrie Shapbell
Phone
(907) 644-3340
Email
carrie_shapbell@nps.gov
Address
Kotzebue
171 3rd Ave
North West Heritage Center 1029
Kotzebue, AK 99752
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at National Park Service, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm

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.