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Historian

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

Summary

This is a GS-0170-09 Historian position located at Yosemite National Park in El Portal, CA.

This is a TERM position with an initial appointment expecting to last 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

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Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
12/09/2024 to 12/19/2024
This job will close when we have received 100 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$60,135 to - $78,175 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yosemite National Park
El Portal, CA
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
Term - This is a 13 month TERM appointment. Please see "Summary" for more details.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
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
PW-1549-YOSE-25-12632309-DE
Control number
822780900

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Duties

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This Term Historian position will perform project work to support historic preservation needs associated with multiple large projects expected to last up to four years. The following are some of the major duties:

  • Research and writing on historical subjects pertaining to Park historical contexts and cultural resources employing primary and secondary sources.
  • Comply with National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in providing support for Section 106 and Section 110 compliance.
  • Work as part of an interdisciplinary team involving expertise in conjunction with architects and archeologists.
  • Employ National Register guidelines and criteria in assessing areas of significance.
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.

Work Environment: Most work is performed in offices, archives, and libraries. Assignments may entail work with dusty records or objects

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.
  • DIRECT DEPOSIT: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • DRIVER'S LICENSE: 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.
  • UNIFORM: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • WORK SCHEDULE: You may be required to work overtime.
  • TRIAL PERIOD: You will be required to complete a one-year trial period.
  • TRAVEL: You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1 night per month. Travel will be rare, once or twice per year, for training and/or site visits. 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-12/23/2024-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.

In order to qualify for this GS-0170-09 Historian position you must meet the qualifications below:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:


A. Degree in history or related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history.

-OR-

B. Possess a 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, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must upload a copy of your transcripts with your application.

-AND-

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one full year (52 weeks) 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). You must include hours per week worked (full time is 40 hours per week) and dates in to/from and month/year format for each position in order to accurately calculate your length of specialized experience.

Examples of Specialized Experience include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Conducts historical research on various topics using a wide range of resources;
  • Identifies methods to preserve, protect, or restore historic or culturally significant buildings or objects;
  • Assists with preparation of historical reports, National Register eligibility determinations, and/or briefings to provide historical analysis and perspective;
  • Monitors and reports on condition of resources as it relates to the historical and cultural setting;
  • Writes about, researches, and analyzes history within a regional context; and/or
  • Communicates importance and relevance of historical resources and topics to a wide variety of audiences.
-OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree in history or a related field such as historic preservation. You must include a copy of your official or unofficial transcripts with your application. If you do not include a copy of your transcripts, you will be found ineligible.

-OR-

COMBINATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, six months of specialized experience and two and a half years of graduate level education leading to a master's degree. (note: only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level can be combined with the appropriate level of experience to qualify). You must include a copy of your official or unofficial transcripts with your application. If you do not include a copy of your transcripts, you will be found ineligible.


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

Yosemite National Park, California, known worldwide for its spectacular natural beauty is the backdrop for this position. Sitting astride the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the park covers 1,182 square miles of varied wilderness ecosystems, from river valleys to alpine meadows, to lofty 13,000-foot-high peaks. Yosemite Valley is located 208 miles from San Francisco, 81 miles from Merced, and 94 miles from Fresno. Shopping, medical, postal, and laundry services are available in the park and in nearby residential communities of Oakhurst, Midpines, and Mariposa. Elevation at the Valley floor is approximately 4,000 feet and 2,200 feet in El Portal. The park is open year-round with the majority of activities occurring during the busy season March through October.

Park/Government housing may be available for this position.

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 575.102 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.

TELEWORK: 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 will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • History and Archaeology
  • Research
  • Technical Competence
  • 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 may require a structured interview. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

The application assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

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