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Computer Scientist, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Alaska Regional Office
This job announcement has closed

Summary


This position is located in Alaska Regional Office, in the Resources Directorate.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/16/2024 to 12/23/2024
Salary
$83,138 to - $120,266 per year

An additional 1.69% cost of living allowance (COLA) will be added to the salary above and reviewed annually.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Anchorage, AK
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
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
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
AK-1537-AKRO-25-12632211-DE
Control number
824139300

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Duties

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As a computer scientist you will be working with a dynamic team in the Geographic Information System (GIS) department. Major duties include:

  • Designs, develops, and manages GIS to ensure their effective implementation.
  • Utilizes the theoretical foundations of computer science and software development to produce high-quality geospatial datasets, products, and tools.
  • Utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to enhance and automate geospatial processes.
  • Designs, develops, and manages spatial database systems to ensure their effective implementation.
  • Establishes and automates workflows for data creation, data management, and data distribution procedures using appropriate technologies.
  • Establishes and automates practices to maintain data quality and implements security controls in line with industry standards.
  • Provides technical support in programming, machine learning, and GIS to users with diverse skill levels and knowledge, addressing a wide range of GIS data applications and uses.
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

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.
  • Must have ability to lift 50 pounds.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • This position may require travel from time-to-time, but not on a regular basis. The travel may be for training or other work-related duties.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • 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.

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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 or GS 11 grade level, you must possess the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

Basic Requirements: A Bachelor's or higher degree in computer science OR a bachelor's or higher degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.

--AND--

In addition to the basic requirements listed above; to qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess the following minimum qualifications by the closing date of the announcement.

At least one full 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). Examples of qualifying specialized experience include planning, executing, and managing coding projects throughout all phases of the software development lifecycle and have documented competencies of designing, developing, and implementing geospatial and database applications using programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, C#, or Swift. Other examples of qualifying specialized experience include interfacing geospatial systems with relational database management systems. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of two full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education, or master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies necessary to do the work of the position. You must include a copy of your transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of such education and experience described above. 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. They must equal 100% to qualify using this option. You must include hours per week worked and provide transcripts.

In addition to the basic requirements listed above, to qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

--AND--


EXPERIENCE: At least one full 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). Examples of qualifying specialized experience include planning, executing, and managing coding projects throughout all phases of the software development lifecycle and have documented competencies of designing, developing, and implementing geospatial and database applications using programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, C#, or Swift. Other examples of qualifying specialized experience include interfacing geospatial systems with relational database management systems. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: At least 3 full years of progressively higher graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree related to the occupation or other closely related subjects pertinent to the position. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION OF EDUCATION OR EXPERIENCE as described above: To combine education and experience, first take your 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. 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.

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 §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.

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: The work is often sedentary, but field work occasionally requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, walking over rough, muddy, uneven, swampy or mountainous terrain; recurring periods of bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching or similar activities; and recurring lifting of moderately heavy items weighing up to 50 pounds. Computer work is sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and use computers for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Work is primarily performed in a climate-controlled office environment. Occasional outdoor work may occur in hot, cold, humid, or dry weather conditions and may occur during periods of rain, snow, sleet, fog or other adverse weather conditions.

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:
  • Customer Service
  • Problem Solving
  • Project Management
  • QTMATE
  • Quality Management
  • Systems Life Cycle
  • Technology Application

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 job-related technical assessment (QTMATE). These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

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