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Hydrologic Technician

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
Albuquerque Area Office, Chama Field Division
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Hydrologic Technician. Make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.


Duty Location: Chama, New Mexico
For more information about Chama, New Mexico click HERE.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
11/05/2024 to 11/18/2024
Salary
$54,864 to - $71,321 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 8
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Chama, NM
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
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
None
Job family (Series)
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
BOR-UCB-25-DE-12597423-SY
Control number
817600200

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Duties

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  • Collect and tabulate hydrologic and meteorological data required for the proper daily, monthly, and annual water accounting for water stored in and released from Reclamation dams, canals, wetland areas, and reservoirs within the Projects areas for the purposes of irrigation use by various irrigation and conservancy districts.
  • Perform maintenance and inspection program to ensure proper operation of all mechanical and electronic facilities of two dams, (Heron and El Vado) under the control of the office.
  • Participate in a maintenance program for approximately 11 miles of improved channelization works, including roads, bridges, side slope rip rap, and other structures.
  • Assist with or performing minor dam site maintenance (basic facilities and equipment) including rock work, canal work, structure repairs, minor road repairs, weed control, Pump House housekeeping, painting, snow removal, etc. using hand and power tools.
  • Prepare and finalize monthly water accounting reports for reservoirs and assists higher graded personnel in the preparation of major monthly and annual water accounting reports and annual operating plans.
  • Acquire a variety of data such as streamflow (stream gauging; wading into river or off cable car) daily reservoir data, snowpack, weather data, and coordinated runoff forecast information.
  • Operate the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to facilitate reservoir elevation and downstream release and gathering of information.
Physical Demands: Work is performed in both an office and field environment. Work requires travel to field sites such as to data collection platform, etc. Work requires recurring lifting of light to moderately heavy items weighing less than 50 lbs (items weighing more than 50lbs require appropriate assistance/equipment). Work also requires occasional moderate physical effort walking overriprap, around reservoirs, in rivers, canals and other irrigation features, and in the performance of minor maintenance and laborer functions.

Work Conditions: Work is mainly performed outdoors using safety precautions at all times. Field visits involve moderate risks and discomforts such as exposure to rain, cold and hot weather, working on steep and rocky slopes, and around reservoirs, rivers, canals, and other irrigation features.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
You must be suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation.
You must submit a resume and supporting documentation (see Required Documents).
You must submit eligibility documents for veterans consideration (see Required Documents).
You must meet any minimum education and/or experience requirements (see Qualifications).
You must maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times as the position requires operation of government vehicles on government and public roads. Failure to maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times will result in removal from the position. termination of appointment.

Qualifications

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, the HR Office must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - this information must be clearly supported in the resume.

To qualify at the GS-08, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-07 level in federal service having demonstrated experience. Specialized experience may include work as a technician or aid in engineering, earth, physical, or natural science, forestry, soil conservation, or surveying; trades or crafts work in maintenance or construction of facilities or equipment related to hydrology; drafting; or construction estimating if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position.

Specialized experience at this level is defined as performing FOUR (4) or more of the following duties: (1) Collecting and recording hydrologic data. (2) Performing routine streamflow and water quality gauge operation and maintenance. (3) Utilizing power and hand tools. (4) Installing, adjusting, and inspecting dam flow meters and water measuring instruments for the collection of surface water data; and checking gage settings to ensure continued accuracy of records obtained from instruments. (5) Collecting and properly archiving streamflow discharge, groundwater elevation and water quality data. (6) Measuring stream discharge utilizing various devices; observing and noting conditions that may have a bearing on stage-discharge relationships; making and compiling observations of the fluctuations of ground water levels in designated wells; and collecting water samples for chemical analysis.

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.

You must meet all Eligibility and Qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors if applicable, by 11/18/2024.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

Additional information

You may be required to serve an initial probationary period. Current, permanent Federal employees who are selected from this announcement may be required to serve a probationary period.

Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information, visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive.

Current agency employees may be eligible to receive a referral bonus for recruitment of this position. For information visit: Referral Bonus Awards.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may request consideration for a Superior Qualifications Appointment. For information, visit: OPM Fact Sheet.

Related non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630). For information, visit: Creditable Service for Annual Leave

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including applicant rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/

This position is designated as a LOW RISK position. It requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated SF85 Background Investigation (T1 or equivalent) that is current (within the last 5 years). This is a condition of employment.

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must certify registration with the Selective Service System or that the applicant is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Go to: https://www.sss.gov

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

The application questionnaire can be previewed here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12597423

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 assessment(s), including a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Resume Review.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Category rating and selection procedures will be used to evaluate applications from this announcement. If an applicant meets the basic qualification requirements, his/her on-line responses to the vacancy assessment questionnaire will be used to determine the quality and extent of his/her experience, education, training, etc., for placement in one of the following categories: 1) Best Qualified, 2) Well Qualified, and 3) Qualified. Qualified candidates will be assigned a numerical score on a scale of 70-100. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher). The assessment questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide to the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Capacity Management
  • Hydrology
  • Information Management
  • Technical Competence



Your answers will be verified against information provided in your resume. Your resume must clearly support the responses to all the questions by addressing experience, education, and/or training relevant to this position. You must make a fair and accurate assessment of your qualifications. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than what is apparent in the description of your experience, competencies, skills, and/or education/training (or that your resume/application is incomplete), you could be rated ineligible or your score could be lowered.

For evaluating the quality of candidates for referral to the selecting official, a three-phased process will be used.

Phase 1: Applicant resumes will be reviewed by Human Resources to ensure they meet the basic qualification requirements (see definition of specialized experience). If applicants meet basic qualifications and score at least a 70 on the initial phase, they will continue on to the second phase and will be given an interim score based on the applicant assessment questionnaire, which will take the applicant approximately 30 minutes to complete when initially applying.

Phase 2: Candidates who were minimally qualified based on the assessment questionnaire identified in the first phase will advance to a structured resume review by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel. The SME panel will score resumes using a pre-determined scoring matrix based on the competencies listed above.

Phase 3: Candidates will be given a final score which combines the scores from the first and second phases. Those candidates who score as best qualified will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

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