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HISTORIAN

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Homestead National Historical Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Serves as a historian for one or more parks where historical themes comprise a major part of the story. The park may be one where historical resources are predominant, or one where natural resources are predominant but where significant historical themes and resources are present.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/09/2024 to 09/16/2024
This job will close when we have received 101 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$49,025 to - $77,955 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 9
Location
Beatrice, NE
1 vacancy
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. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - You may be required to work weekends, evenings, holidays, and/or overtime.
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
9
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
MW-1543-HOME-24-12533109-ST
Control number
807558000

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Duties

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Receives advanced formal and on-the-job instruction and training designed to familiarize incumbent wit functions and operations of the organization, and to provide additional experience in the practical application of basic natural and/or cultural techniques and concepts.

Through independent study, developmental assignments, literature review, on-site studies, and fieldwork, the incumbent expands his/her knowledge about the natural and cultural resources of the park and the National Park Service and related state and local parks and institutions. For example, the incumbent may study the history of discipline-specific scientific thought, studies and theories applicable to that park; and participate in archeological field studies, geologic mapping, consultations with Native Americans, water quality investigations, etc., as appropriate.

Seeks training opportunities and educational activities that will increase his/her knowledge and understanding of the park's resources in the context of the natural environment or the historical and cultural setting.

As assigned, writes text and/or prepares illustrations as input-to projects of higher-graded professionals. Writes letters in response to inquiries about the park and its resources, basing responses on knowledge of park and Service-wide policy, park files, prior research, and other sources.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

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.
  • 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 may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to 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 discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/16/2024-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 INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR HISTORIAN GS-0170 (You must include transcripts)

  1. Possession of a degree in history or closely related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history.
  2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in history, or a major in a related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education, such as research, writing, teaching, interpretation, or other demonstrable professional activity with an academic institution, historic organization or agency, museum, or other professional institution; or Substantial contribution through research and publication to the body of scholarly knowledge in the field of history.

To qualify for this position at the GS-7 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-5 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience includes the following: locating, analyzing, researching, and/or organizing historical materials; establishing partnerships; providing public programs. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate study in one of history or other closely related subject pertinent to the position. (One year of graduate education is 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours). IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your course work and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific course work information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) as evidenced by one of the three following methods: I am in the upper third of my graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses in a field related to this position; OR I have a GPA 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in my major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR I am a member in one of the national scholastic honor societies. You MUST provide the documentation to support S.A.A. criteria. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described in A above (50% of the experience requirement), and one-half year (9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours) of directly related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 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-7 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). . Specialized experience includes locating, obtaining, analyzing, evaluating, researching, summarizing, and/or organizing historical materials; establishing and maintaining partnerships; and monitoring cultural resources, developing, and providing public and professional programs. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education, or a master's or equivalent graduate degree in history or other closely related subject pertinent to the position. (Two years of graduate education is 36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours). IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must provide complete information to show how you meet the requirements claimed including a copy of your transcripts of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. We cannot determine eligibility without this information. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and (27 semester hours or 41 quarter hours) of directly related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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

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 ยง575.102 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.

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

Physical Demands: The work is sedentary, but at times requires travel to repositories of information, and may require visits to remote sites which require walking or riding over rough, uneven surfaces. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time. The work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing; walking over rough, uneven or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching or similar activities; and recurring lifting of moderately heavy items.

Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and occasionally outdoors with moderate risks. Most work is performed in offices, archives, and libraries. Assignments may entail work with dusty records or objects.

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.

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:

  • Education and Training
  • History and Archaeology
  • Money Handling
  • Oral Communication
  • Partnering
  • Writing


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 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.

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