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Biological Science Technician (Plants)

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 expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

Government housing is not available.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
11/18/2024 to 12/18/2024
Salary
$26.53 to - $34.50 per hour

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 7
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Anchorage, AK
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
75% or less - You may be expected to travel up to 16 nights per month for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - Initial appointment is not to exceed 13 months, with possible extensions up to 4 years.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
AK-1537-AKRO-25-12569788-ST
Control number
819547300

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Duties

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Biological Science Technician (Plants) positions focus on carrying out field studies on plants and plant ecology; inventorying and monitoring exotic plants; leading field crews in exotic plant eradication; protecting plants by building and maintaining fences; conducting grazing monitoring studies; developing improved methods of controlling weeds and plant diseases; and similar work usually concerned with higher plant life. As a GS-07, duties may include:

  • Participating as a team member conducting invasive plant control, restoration, and seed collecting projects using a variety of methods in remote natural settings.
  • Recording data relating to plant studies and providing preliminary assessment and classification of the information.
  • Documenting occurrence and distribution of identified species.
  • Safely handling and applying herbicides to target invasive plants.
  • Creating maps and reports for use in the field and for communicating about work sites.
  • Collecting, reviewing, and utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) data.
This announcement is being advertised concurrently under number AK-1537-AKRO-25-12569789-DE which is open to all qualified persons. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

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 will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
  • 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 may be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record.
  • Motorboat operation required. Selectee will receive appropriate training in motorboat operations and will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing.
  • You may be required to study for and obtain an Alaska Pesticide Applicator's license within one year of hire.
  • You may be required to complete training and operate all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), utility task vehicles (UTVs), and 4-wheel drive trucks with trailers.
  • You may be trained to serve as fixed wing crew team member for small aircraft.
  • 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 16 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.
  • Government housing is not available.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-12/18/2024-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-07 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-06 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience may include activities such as: participating as a field crew team member for exotic plant control projects in remote natural settings; identifying target exotic plant species from desirable native plant species; collecting exotic plant control data and records according to standard protocols; surveying and mapping exotic plant populations using GPS handheld devices; handling and applying herbicides; participating in native restoration programs; and recording biological and plant data using computer software programs (such as Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, ArcGIS, or comparable software). You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of progressively higher-level graduate education in botany, biology, plant ecology, restoration ecology, horticulture, arboriculture, agriculture, forestry, natural resource sciences, environmental sciences, conservation sciences, and other directly related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours or equivalent earned towards a graduate degree and divide by 18 semester hours or equivalent. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts and hours worked per week.

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 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.

Physical Demands: The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., equipment and packs up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried on a routine basis.

Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Field work includes exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, and wild animals. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals.

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

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.

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 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:

  • Applies Technology to Tasks
  • Botany
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Leadership
  • Physical Strength and Agility
  • Technical Competence


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

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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