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Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions are located in the Farmington Field office and the Taos Field Office.

This position is concurrently open to Merit Promotion eligibles under Announcement Number NM-MP-25-12658286-HVN.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
01/17/2025 to 01/21/2025
Salary
$61,111 - $96,116 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Locations
Farmington, NM
1 vacancy
Taos, NM
1 vacancy
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
11
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
Yes - ONLY the Taos location is covered by a bargaining unit represented by the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 340.
Announcement number
NM-DE-25-12658285-HVN
Control number
828114800

Duties

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  • Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
  • Responsible for the acquisition and management of a wide range of spatial information required to support the management of public lands.
  • Defines data need parameters for specific geospatial projects and/or assignments and implements analytical techniques to solve geospatial issues.
  • Designs, develops, and manages geospatial databases, including conversion of digital data in various formats
  • Coordinates and implements geospatial applications and incorporates GIS resource data into a range of local planning documents and processes.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • .U.S. Citizenship required
  • May be required to complete background investigation and drug screening.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • For the Taos location ONLY - This is a bargaining unit position represented by the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 340"

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

Specialized Experience GS-09: Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) Digitizing geographic information by translating raw land-based data into code; (2) Compiling geographic data from a variety of sources; (3) Scheduling geospatial hardware and software processing needs and implementing required upgrades; (4) Providing input into contract specifications and scopes of work.
OR, Education GS-09: Successful completion of at a masters or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B or J.D (if related) from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. You must include transcripts.
OR, Combination, GS-09: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described above, when combined, equal 100% of the total requirement. Please note only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify under this option. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.


Specialized Experience GS-11: Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) designing/managing geospatial databases including project quality control and/or research; (2) collaborating with others in developing and/or implementing geospatial applications or data; (3) presenting the organization's technical and/or policy information in conferences/meetings; (4) assisting with planning and/or management activities.
OR, Education GS-11: Successful completion of a Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M (if related) from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. You must include transcripts.
OR, Combination, GS-11: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described above, when combined, equal 100% of the total requirement. Please note only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify under this option. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

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.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Additional information

  • 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). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
This position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GS-11. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, and the availability of higher-level work. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied.

Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, requiring long periods of sitting in one position, intense concentration, and working for several hours at a time. Stress may be experienced on a regular basis in attempting to respond to conflicting objectives and in working against tight deadlines with limited resources.

Working Conditions: The work is primarily in an office/computer room environment. Occasional fieldwork may be required. Fieldwork is in support of resource mapping projects and involves extended days of travel, sometimes in poor weather conditions. The incumbent must be comfortable with less than ideal conditions in remote settings in the accomplishment of mapping projects.

The Bureau of Land Management has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If 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 or Student Loan Repayment.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact Hannah Nickless at hnickless@blm.gov.

How you will be evaluated

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

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

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.

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 Subject Matter Expert Resume Review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

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:
  • Database Administration
  • Information Management
  • Oral Communication
  • Technical Competence

Bureau of Land Management

The BLM manages 245 million surface acres. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. We are a small bureau with a big and complex job, determining the best combination of uses for public lands based on good science and input from the public both in local communities and across the country. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) 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.

Agency contact information

Hannah Nickless
Email
hnickless@blm.gov
Address
BLM New Mexico State Office
BLM New Mexico, NM-951
301 Dinosaur Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87508
US

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https://www.blm.gov/

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