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

Volunteer Program Specialist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Inflation Reduction Act
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This Volunteer Program Specialist position is located in the Visitor Engagement, Education and the Arts Directorate at National Parks of Boston, a collection of iconic partnership parks within the City of Boston that includes Boston National Historical Park, Boston African American National Historic Site and Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/12/2024 to 09/26/2024
Salary
$67,743 to - $106,549 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Boston Natl Historical Park
Boston, MA
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
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
NPS-IRA-24-12543149-ST
Control number
809220900

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

All current or former career/career-conditional federal employees with competitive/reinstatement eligibility; Eligible applicants under: Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); CTAP/ICTAP within the local commuting area; Special Hiring Authorities; Current or former time-limited employees under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA); Public Land Corps (PLC) members

Videos

Duties

Help

Some of the duties you will perform will include, but are not limited to:

  • Plan, develop, implement, and evaluate the park-wide Volunteer-in-Parks (VIP) Program.
  • Collaborate with park colleagues, park partners and community-based organizations to build strategic relationships and achieve common goals associated with volunteerism.
  • Utilize a variety of methods or tools to create, schedule, coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and manage volunteer projects and resources.
  • Adapt leadership style to motivate, challenge, and engage others with the management of the park-wide VIP Program.
  • Prepare, justify, monitor, and administer the budget for the park-wide VIP Program.

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 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 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 overtime.
  • 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 2nights 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.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/26/2024-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-09 grade level, you must possess the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

Specialized Experience: One 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 is experience that equips the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform 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 of qualifying specialized experience includes but is not limited to: implements plans on behalf of a multi-disciplinary planning team that represents the volunteer program goals; applies principles of volunteer program management, including designing volunteer activities; and applies personnel practices and procedures in the areas of recruitment, interviewing, selection, placement, orientation, and retention of volunteers. You must provide hours per week and to/from dates (month/year) on your resume.

-OR-
Education: Two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from school, 18 semester hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. You must provide copies of your transcripts.

-OR-
Combo Education and Experience: Equivalent combination of education and experience as described above. NOTE: Only graduate level education in excess of one year may be combined with experience. 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. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must provide copies of your transcripts and the hours per week and to/from dates (month/year) on your resume.

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

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is experience that equips the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform 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 of qualifying specialized experience includes but is not limited to:operating and managing a volunteer program; supervising groups of people; preparing and presenting training and development programs; use of computer programs (e.g. Microsoft, Access databases, word processing, spreadsheets); scheduling volunteer work and overnight accommodations; developing and implementing a recognition plan; managing a budget: and facilitating staff from diverse disciplines and representatives from diverse organizations to create strong stakeholder support for volunteer initiatives and a collaborative team environment for accomplishing volunteer program goals. You must provide hours per week and to/from dates (month/year) on your resume.

-OR-
Education: Three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from school, 18 semester hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. You must provide copies of your transcripts.

-OR-
Combo Education and Experience: Equivalent combination of education and experience as described above. NOTE: Only graduate level education in excess of two years may be combined with experience. To calculate your percentage of qualifying graduate education, divide your number of semester hours in excess of 36 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. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must provide copies of your transcripts and the hours per week and to/from dates (month/year) on your resume.


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.

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.

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: This work may require long periods of standing, walking, and speaking. Work may be physically, socially, and intellectually demanding, especially when working with volunteers and providing support to volunteer events and activities. Duties require frequent trips by car or public transportation to various locations in the park and community for project coordination, meetings, and evaluation of volunteer efforts. Incumbent will be required to lead volunteer service projects in all types of weather conditions.

Working Conditions: Work is generally performed in an office setting and duties involve extensive use of computers; however, work also takes place at partner sites and at island and mainland locations throughout the three parks. Travel is accomplished on foot and using the city-wide public transportation system (bus, subway, ferry). Distance travel for regional meetings, off-site events and training may require use of park vehicles or commercial carriers. The incumbent must be able to work in the field for in all weather conditions, including rain, snow, cold and heat. Work is mostly during normal business hours, but evening and weekend work is required to support volunteer activities and attend community meetings. The position is a uniformed position.

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:

  • Financial Management
  • Leadership
  • 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. 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.

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.