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Geologist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Grand Canyon National Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Grand Canyon National Park, in the Science and Resource Managment Division.

This is a term position (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of 10 years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Posted 07/15/24
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$72,553 - $94,317 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Term - 13 months but may be extended up to a total of 10 years
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
IM-1541-GRCA-24-12470947-DE
Control number
799699200

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Duties

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The TERM position will be funded with project funds for the life of major infrastructure projects in Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA), including the Trans Canyon Water Line Project (TCWL), the North Rim Infrastructure Project, the South Rim Wastewater Treatment Plant, and others. Work under these projects during preparation, compliance, construction, and post-construction monitoring will including inventory, monitoring, and protection of sensitive paleontological resources, evaluation of borehole data, evaluation, and interpretation of extensive amounts of geophysical and LiDAR data, and the identification and evaluation and potential mitigation of geohazards (e.g., rockfalls, debris flows). Threats and vulnerabilities to resources, infrastructure, personnel, and visitors will be identified and evaluated. Critical geological, geophysical, and paleontological data and reports will be provided during planning, compliance, and construction phases for these infrastructure projects. GRCA requires this position to lead these efforts, plan studies, lead and assist field crews, conduct field studies, and collect geological data to ensure that collected data will inform TCWL and other major infrastructure projects planning and construction.

Major Duties:

  • Plans, coordinates, manages, and leads comprehensive geologic projects and studies.
  • Collects, manages, analyzes, and interprets geologic data using standard and novel methods and procedures.
  • Develops, modifies, and utilizes spatial and relational databases and related applications to maintain and synthesize geologic data for planning and analysis.
  • Develops proposals for scientific investigations related to the geological sciences, including scopes of work, expected benefits and work products, timelines, and budgets.
  • Writes, communicates, and publishes reports of geologic findings in internal or external reports, presentations, recommendations to resource managers, or scientific journal publications.

This is a term position (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of ten (10) years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

The National Park Service retains the right to extend the duration of this appointment after selection and/or appointment, based on changes to the regulation governing the number of years term appointments may last. This change, which may be made at the agency's sole discretion and without further competition, shall not be construed or interpreted as the granting of a right to a selectee or employee to such an extension. No extension to a term appointment shall be granted to a selectee/employee to an amount of time that exceeds the maximum number of years authorized under any present or current regulation, unless such regulation expressly allows such action.

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 may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • You will be required to complete a one-year trial period.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 7 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/29/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: This position has basic requirements required by the Office of Personnel Management. Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position. It is recommended to upload any and all transcripts you have to justify this requirement (under grad, grad, etc.). Applicants must meet one of the following before the close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in geology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological science, structural, chemical, civil, mining or petroleum engineering, computer science, planetary geology, comparative planetology, geophysics, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, physical geography, marine geology, and cartography. You must provide transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience - course work as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Acceptable experience may have been gained through geological field or laboratory work that provided a means of obtaining professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of geology and closely related sciences, e.g., geophysics, geochemistry, or hydrology. Such work generally must have involved making close observations, taking samples, handling various types of instruments and equipment, assembling geologic data from source materials, and analyzing and reporting findings orally and in writing. You must provide transcripts and hours worked.

AND

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-9, which equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples include but are not limited to: Work planning and coordination during preparation, compliance, construction, and post-construction monitoring of major infrastructure projects; geologic mapping, field inventory, monitoring, and protection of sensitive paleontological resources; geological evaluation of borehole data; evaluation and interpretation of large geophysical and LiDAR data sets; identification, evaluation, and potential mitigation of geohazards (e.g., rockfalls, debris flows); identification and evaluation of threats and vulnerabilities to resources, infrastructure, personnel, and visitors; provide geological, geophysical, and paleontological data and reports; lead efforts, plan studies, lead and assist field crews, conduct field studies, and collect and interpret geological data. You must include hours worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successfully completed at least three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must provide transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: Successfully completion of a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience. Note: only education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (GS-9 is 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree) may be combined with experience. For example, an applicant with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to GS-9 (50 percent of the experience requirement for GS-11) and 27 semester hours of appropriate graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement for GS-9, in excess of that required for GS-7) would be qualified for a GS-9 position (assuming that there is no evidence that the attended college or university requires more than 18 semester hours as equivalent to a year of graduate study). You must provide transcripts and hours worked.

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

Salary Range: 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.

Additional Selections: 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: Field work is an integral part of this position, and may require strenuous physical activity, such as long periods of standing, walking long distances over rough, mountainous terrain, camping overnight in remote locations, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing.

Working Conditions: Data management, computer work, documentary research and report writing work are sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time in an office setting. Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather, including hot, dry, wet, cold, wind, and precipitation. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous area including steep slopes, rocky terrain, caves, deserts, and forests and/or in construction zones. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.

Telework: 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.

Flagstaff Area Information: This position is stationed at the Grand Canyon National Park offices in Flagstaff, Arizona. Flagstaff is located about 70 miles from the park and has a population of about 75,000. Flagstaff has an elevation of 7,000 ft. and includes multiple K-12 public and private schools, Northern Arizona University, a diverse community, medical and other support services. The rental and home markets in Flagstaff can be relatively expensive and limited. Summers in Flagstaff are warm with temperatures in the 80's and frequent monsoon thunderstorms. Winters are cold, with low temperatures near zero and snow averaging around 90 inches. Recreational opportunities in both areas cross all four seasons in environments ranging from low deserts to high mountains and include hiking, backpacking, fishing, cross-country and downhill skiing, and golfing in nearby communities. Government housing is not available.

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 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.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Geology
  • Manages and Organizes Information
  • Partnering
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Project Management


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

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

Lindsay Heinrich
Email
lindsay_heinrich@nps.gov
Address
Grand Canyon National Park
PO Box 129
20 South Entrance Road
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
US

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