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Archaeologist

Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), West Coast Region (WCR)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), West Coast Region (WCR), with one vacacny in Portland, OR; Boise, ID; Long Beach, CA; Sacramento, CA; Seattle, WA.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS WCR PRD-25-12615280-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
11/29/2024 to 12/12/2024
Salary
$49,025 to - $99,821 per year
Pay scale & grade
ZP 2
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Long Beach, CA
Sacramento, CA
Boise, ID
Portland, OR
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
3 - If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you may be non-competitively promoted if you perform successfully and if recommended by management.
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
NMFS WCR-25-12625979-ACWA
Control number
821411500

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Duties

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As an Archaeologist, you will perform the following duties:

  • Assist in the creation and implementation of cultural resource administrative program by participating in meetings with internal and external parties, working to resolve challenges, reviewing cultural resource documentation, drafting response letters and implementation records, and carrying out other program implementation tasks assigned by the higher-level specialist.
  • Apply established methods, tests, procedures, and techniques to conduct research as necessary at libraries, agencies, and other institutions for archaeological, historic, and ethnographic information and provides information to higher-level specialist.
  • Serve as an agency liaison and assist in consultation with State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation(ACHP), Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), and other interested parties concerning the effects of undertakings on historic properties.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). This system replaced the Federal GS pay plan and structure. Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band.

The ZP-2 is equivalent to the GS-07/09.

Salary:
Portland, OR, - 52,734 - 92,340
Boise, ID - 49,025 - 85,844
Long Beach, CA - 57,007 - 99,821
Sacramento, CA - 54,203 - 94,912
Seattle, WA - 54,896 - 96,124

*A one year probationary period may be required.
*Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.
*Payment of recruitment and relocation incentives may be authorized.
*This position is not in the bargaining unit.

This Public Notice is for an Administrative Careers with America (ACWA) covered series at the Band II (ZP-2 GS-7/9 equivalent).. This ACWA Assessment is for the GS-07 equivalency.


Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
  5. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?
  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

To qualify for the 0193 series:
A. Education

1. Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:
  • History of archeology.
  • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
  • Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development.
  • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
  • Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work.

AND

  • Six semester hours of related course work in:
  • geography, geology, or cultural geography;
  • history, historiography, or historical archeology;
  • environmental studies;
  • scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or
  • surveying;


AND

  • Archeological field school.

2. Related Curriculum: degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A.1 (including archeological field school).

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience
College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.

OR

C. Experience
Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project.

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.


To qualify at the ZP-2 or GS-07 level:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-1 or GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

  • Supporting the implementation of cultural resource programs; and
  • Compiling information in libraries or archives to gather historical, ethnographic, or archaeological information.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION:
One full year or graduate-level education.

OR
SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT:
Demonstrated by a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with one of the following. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application clearly states how you meet one of the provisions below:

  • A grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study;
  • A GPA of 3.5 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study, or those courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study;
  • Class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college.
  • Membership in a national Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies.

OR

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
A combination of graduate-level education and specialized experience.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

Additional information

Well-qualified for CTAP and ICTAP eligibility includes those candidates who have been determined to exceed minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a rating of 85, but otherwise may or may not be among the highly or best-qualified candidates. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Career Transition Resources website at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

CTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:

  1. A copy of your specific RIF notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; a Certificate of Expected Separation (CES); or certification that you are in a surplus organization or occupation (this could be a position abolishment letter, a notice eligibility for discontinued service retirement, or similar notice).
  2. A copy of your SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action", noting current position, grade level, and duty location;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.

ICTAP applicants MUST submit the following documents:

  1. A copy of your RIF separation notice; notice of proposed removal for failure to relocate; notice of disability annuity termination; certification from your former agency that it cannot place you after your recovery from a compensable injury; or certification from the National Guard Bureau or Military Department that you are eligible for disability retirement;
  2. A copy of your SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" documenting your RIF separation, noting your positions, grade level, and duty location, and/or Agency certification of inability to place you through RPL, etc;
  3. A copy of your latest performance appraisal including your rating; and
  4. Any documentation from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.
Non-Competitive Reinstatement to a Higher Grade/Band than Previously Held MUST submit the following documents:
1. SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action: you must provide the most current Notification of Personnel Action (Form SF-50) that verifies career/career-conditional status, title, series, and highest grade level held on a permanent basis for your previous position. (do not submit an Award SF-50) AND, the SF-50 that verifies your separation date; AND.
2. Performance Appraisal - most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Do not submit a performance plan that does not include this information.

NOAA participates in e-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.

The Department of the Commerce (DOC) 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.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

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 for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/No, Multiple Choice questions) and place you in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are "gold", "silver" and "bronze". However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the "gold" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies; please do not provide a separate written response:

  • Educational Experience (ACWA)
  • Mathematical Skills (ACWA)
  • Rating (ACWA)
  • Social Organizations (ACWA)
  • Work Experience (ACWA)


How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. Preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest quality category (gold) depending on the position and grade level of the job. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating.

NOTE: If it is determined that you have rated yourself higher than is supported in your description of experience and/or education as described in your resume/application, or that your resume or application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible and/or not qualified.

To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12625979

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