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Physical Scientist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Alaska Regional Office, Natural Resources
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Alaska Regional Office, in the Natural Resources 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
Open & closing dates
08/12/2024 to 08/26/2024
Salary
$67,738 - $88,058 per year

An additional 1.69% cost of living allowance (COLA) will be added to the salary above. Pay is subject to annual review and adjustment.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Anchorage, AK
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
50% or less - You may be expected to travel up to 15 nights per month for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - The initial appointment is expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of ten years.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
AK-1537-AKRO-24-12506652-DE
Control number
804323400

Videos

Duties

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This announcement is being advertised concurrently under number AK-1537-AKRO-24-12506651-ST which is open to certain merit promotion and status candidates. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

As a Physical Scientist, GS-1301-09, duties may include:

  • Collects geologic, geomorphic, and hydrologic field data in support of regional and park projects.
  • Collects mapping- and survey-grade GPS data based on existing protocols.
  • Uses ArcPro and other computer software to visualize and analyze field data.
  • Produces written reports, oral presentations, and web content for natural resource projects.

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 within 30 days of being hired. Important: Please, do not provide a copy of your driver's license at this time. If selected for a position, 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 15 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.
  • May be required to lift 40 pounds.
  • 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-08/26/2024-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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess the following basic and minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

BASIC REQUIREMENT: To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following basic requirements for the General Physical Science Series, 1301 (opm.gov):

Degree: Must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must provide a copy of your transcripts.
- OR -
Education and Experience: Must have a combination of education and experience equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience, or additional education. You must provide a copy of your transcripts and hours worked per week.

- AND -

In addition to meeting at least one of the basic requirements listed above, to qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least 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-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience includes activities such as: collecting geologic, hydrologic, and geospatial survey (mapping- or survey-grade) field data; Integrating collected geologic, hydrologic, and geospatial survey (mapping-or survey-grade) data into Geographic Information System (GIS) or other software systems for analysis; and monitoring and reporting on the condition of the resources of the park or a monitoring program by measuring and reporting the impact and effectiveness of management actions that affect resources, such as restoration programs, park developments, visitor dispersal strategies, etc. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successfully completed at least 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in related field of study to the position. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience: Successfully completed a combination of education and experience as described above. To calculate your percentage of qualifying graduate education, divide your number of semester hours in excess of 18 semester hours by 18 or the number your school uses to represent one year of full time graduate academic study. To calculate your percentage of experience, divide your months of qualifying specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages. They must equal 100% to qualify using this option. You must include transcripts and 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

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

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.

Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid. All travel, transportation, and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the sole responsibility of the selected employee.

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 position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, firelines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.

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.

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 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:
  • Field Data Collection
  • Oral Communication
  • Surveying
  • Technical Competence
  • Technology Application
  • Written Communication


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

Please read this announcement fully and carefully to avoid missed consideration. All applications are hand-screened by our Human Resources Specialists, not computers.

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

Tracy Noetzelman
Phone
907-644-3336
Email
tracy_noetzelman@nps.gov
Address
Alaska Regional Office
240 W 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
US

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

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